Apprentice of a Meddling Old Coot
by Corrupted Desires
Summary: Third in the Animality Series: Dumbledore decides that he's just about ready to retire and trains an apprentice. Can Hermione survive the training to become the Greatest Witch in the World?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter... I'm still waiting for the courts to decide if I can own the Weasley Twins yet or not. Just kidding, but pay attention, cause this is the only disclaimer I'm going to bother with in this fic. Oh yeah, there will be other things later on that aren't in the Harry Potter series, I won't own them either.

**A/N:** Part Three in the Animality Series... This one will be very jumpy and have a bit of everything!

**Warning:** This fic contains the romantic tripairing of Fred/Hermione/George. My view on the wizarding world is that we **_all_** know what has to happen to maintain Purebloods, so such a pairing isn't a big deal as long as everyone is happy.

On to the fic!

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Repairs had been made, classes were back on track, pranks were played, tests were taken and finally it was one week until The Golden Trio of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger would graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The weather was beautiful that day. Harry and Ron, along with the rest of the Gryffindor team, were having one of several last Quidditch matches against the Slytherins. A whole group of students had gathered to watch the semi-playful game. Since Draco Malfoy had openly joined forces with the side of Light before Christmas, things had eased up quite a bit between the houses.

"Damn it, Malfoy! You're not supposed to be messing around with the bludgers!"

"You can't prove anything Potter, your head is too far up your ass to see what's going on!"

But then again, Slytherins and Gryffindors would always be rivals... Especially when it came to Quidditch!

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Sitting with the other spectators, seventh years from all four houses crammed into the same section of the stands, Hermione Granger was cheering on the Gryffindor team. She had just finished talking to Blaise Zabini about their Potion's NEWT when a gentle warbling drew her attention. Turning, Hermione spied Headmaster Dumbledore's phoenix familiar Fawkes flying toward the stands. She waited and, when she was certain Fawkes was coming to her, she held out her arm.

Fawkes landed delicately on the Gryffindor's arm before presenting her with a piece of parchment. After nuzzling his head against Hermione's cheek, the red and gold phoenix flew away.

A puzzled look crossed Hermione's features as she read the note. "Blaise, I have to go see the Headmaster. Will you let Ron and Harry know where I went?"

"Sure thing, Granger. See you later."

Waving to her friends among the spectators, Hermione headed into the castle.

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Upon reaching the gargoyles guarding the stairs to Dumbledore's office, Hermione glanced at the note once more, doublechecking the password. "Elfish Welfare?" She sounded a bit uncertain, knowing the Headmaster preferred using sweets as passwords. The gargoyles promptly jumped aside and, with a final curious look at the parchment, she headed up the stairs.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Hermione found the door standing open and Albus Dumbledore seated at his desk waiting.

"Come in, Hermione." Albus waved the young woman inside, gesturing to a seat near his desk. "Could you please shut the door on your way?"

Giving a nod as she entered, Hermione waved the door closed and then seated herself in the indicated spot. She hadn't been seated more than thirty seconds when she started fidgetting slightly. Albus had yet to offer her a sherbet lemon, which she knew was abnormal for the man, and merely stared at her over the rim of his half-moon glasses with his twinkling blue eyes. She started to get worried.

"Was there something you needed to speak with me about, Headmaster?"

Albus smiled. "My dear, there is no need for such formality. Please, call me Albus." As if that reminded him, Albus patted gently at his pockets before pulling out a bag. "Dear me, my manners are slipping... Would you like a sherbet lemon?"

Relaxing, Hermione accepted one of the candies and popped it into her mouth.

Giving her a few minutes to settle, Albus pulled a file from his desk. "Now, you are most certainly not in trouble, my dear. I have asked you here because of some observations I have made in the last several years." Albus then handed the file to Hermione. "And because of your NEWT scores..."

Instantly perking up, Hermione accepted the file and opened it. The first page was a summary. After reading it, she blinked. "Sir... Is this accurate?"

"Yes, Hermione... According to the Testers you have completely blown off the charts on half of your NEWTS and scored so high on the rest that you have been officially dubbed a Witch Prodigy." Albus couldn't seem more cheerful at the news.

Hermione had to suppress the desire to jump up and scream with delight. She'd save that for later... "That's great, Professor... But why did you bring me here to show me my scores?"

His smile growing, Albus nearly glowed with delight. "My dear Miss Granger. I am about to offer you a once in a lifetime proposal... The same proposal I was given just prior to my graduation."

Nearly on the edge of her seat, Hermione could barely contain her curiosity. "And what proposal is that?"

"As you may know, I am known among some circles as the greatest wizard in the world."

Hermione smiled, remembering Harry's tale of saying that exact thing to the memory of Tom Riddle in their second year.

"What most do not know is that once upon a time, I was merely referred to as an insufferable know-it-all..."

Blinking, Hermione's swift brain began to get the drift of where Albus was going with this proposal.

"Another thing not commonly known is that I was trained with the specific intention to become a... How was it that Severus phrased it... Meddlesome old coot, I believe it was." Albus leaned back in his chair. "But I must admit that I am getting on in years and would like to retire within the next few decades. And that, my dear, is where you come into the picture!"

Startled by the sudden jump in Dumbledore's voice, Hermione squeaked softly. "Me?"

"Yes! I have observed in you the qualities needed to become the Greatest Witch in the World. I would need you to complete some relatively minor tasks beforehand... But once those tasks are completed, I would like you to become my apprentice, Hermione."

Hermione stuttered at the offer.

Albus smiled kindly at the girl. "There is no need to answer now, you may head back to your friends and answer when you are ready..."

Not giving Hermione a chance to say anything more, Albus ushered her out the door and closed it behind her. "Well, Fawkes... I do believe we'll be able to retire soon."

Fawkes, having been perched on a window sill, chirped his agreement.

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The next week was spent with the students relaxing and getting ready for the summer. Wild games of Quidditch, most of the rules thrown out the window, helped people relax and Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes sent random care packages to several students to encourage shenanigans. The seventh years, when not goofing around, were getting ready to move on to the adult world and many were already applying for wizarding universities or jobs. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco had all received acceptance letters into Auror training.

Hermoine spent much of the time since speaking to Dumbledore in thought. She would often think while staring at her training acceptance letter. It seemed as if she had blinked no more than twice before their graduation ceremony was being held. After the ceremony, she approached Albus with her answer.

"Headma...Albus?" She cleared her throat nervously. "I accept your proposal."

Albus beamed at the girl. "Excellent! Now, before your training can begin, I need you to..."

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Three Years and Several Months Later:

Fresh from her first successful assignment and now on special assignment, Auror Granger gazed out of the window as the Thestral-drawn carriage brought her closer to Hogwarts. She had completed the tasks Dumbledore set for her a week ago and now, with two days until the next school year began, Hermione was returning to one of the few places she thought of as home.

Thanking the elves that took her luggage and informed her that dinner was just beginning in the once the carriage stopped, Hermione made her way into the familiar stone corridors. She brushed her hair back nervously as she made her way into the Great Hall.

"There you are, Hermione!" Albus' cheerful greeting made the young woman feel at ease. "I was wondering when my apprentice would arrive."

Grinning, Hermione joined the professors at the head table.

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For the first two weeks of the new school year, Hermione Granger was allowed free access to all parts of the school while Albus Dumbledore, her mentor, settled into the routine before beginning her training. She was frequently found wandering in and out of classes, sometimes assisting the teachers with whatever lessons they were giving and, in the case of Severus Snape, being innocently annoying. The task, while seemingly a death wish, brought Hermione much amusement as Severus could no longer take away points from her or give her detention. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, Albus encouraged this sort of behavior in his apprentice and would manage to be just as innocently annoying when Severus complained.

Once things had settled in, Albus called Hermione once more to his office. A brisk walk and a brief mentioning of Sugar Daddies later, a password that had given Hermione the giggles the first time she had used it, and Hermione was entering the office only to find one of her best friends, Harry Potter, waiting with Albus.

"Harry!" Giving her fellow Auror a hug, Hermione couldn't help but wonder what meeting would need both her and Harry involved. "How have you been?"

"Gosh, Hermione... One would think it had been more than three weeks since we had last seen each other." Harry rolled his eyes and informed her that he was well.

"Now that you two have caught up..." Albus smiled pleasantly. "As I was about to tell Harry, there are parts of your training where it is not wise for you to be alone. As such, I will be sending some others of your 'pack' along on these training missions. For your first mission, Harry is the best choice."

Standing, Albus gestured for both Harry and Hermione to collect the trunks he had prepared for them and follow. "Now, this first task is both a training aid and a gift of sorts." Seeing they were about to ask questions, he hurried on with the explanation. "You will understand within the first day of the mission."

Albus led them down a long corridor connected to his office. The hallway had quite a few arches, all of which were curtained off with heavy black drapes. He stopped before the last arch in the corridor. "There are a few rules you will need to follow. The first is that you cannot be in human form on this mission."

Exchanging a glance both young adults seemed to shrug as they shifted into their hybrid forms. Thankfully all of their clothing had charms to accomodate for sudden body changes and nothing was torn. Hooves and paws were pulled from their shoes which were then placed into their trunks.

Nodding in approval, Albus brought up the next rule. "Secondly, you must not use your given names on this mission. I'm sure you have some more Sirius names that will come in handy." He chuckled at his own joke. Then he became serious. "Thirdly, and most importantly, you must remember that no matter what happens while you are on this mission, no one will remember it once you have left. There are powerful enchantments upon these missions to prevent anything untoward happening because of those who step within these portals."

With that said, Albus opened the curtain in front of the arch, an arch which led into a shallow alcove. There seemed to be a faint glow, like one of those science fiction forcefields hovering within a portrait frame affixed to the wall behind the curtain. The frame itself seemed to vibrate with the power of the portal.

"The official reasoning for your mission can be found in this file." Albus handed the file to Hermione. "Once you have successfully completed your mission, the portal will allow you to return. And don't worry, I will be expecting your arrival." That said, Albus stepped aside and gestured to the portal.

Each giving Albus a quick hug, the two parts of the Golden Trio shared a nod, stepped through the portal, which felt like stepping through a layer of thick fog, and into...

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**A/N:** There you have the prologue. I've already started writing the next chapter. For those that haven't noticed yet, Hermione's my favorite character and this one is rather centered around her, though it will include the other original Animalities. So don't fret! 


	2. First Mission part 1

**A/N: **I got to see _Goblet of Fire_ on Monday night! Yay! I don't know when I'll be able to get a copy of the book though I'm hoping as soon as possible! If I hadn't already been lusting after James and Oliver Phelps before seeing that movie, I would be now!

**Kd7sov:** Thank you for the review and the note on the Auror training. I've actually been using tidbits from the hp-lexicon all through my HP Fanfic career... Admittedly not long, but I read through it before I started writing in that catagory. I honestly never checked up on the Auror training length. I've gone back and edited that to read three years and some months later. Though why I didn't remember it from my minor research on Tonks, I have no idea. Thanks again for catching that for me! As for the "We'll be able to retire." comment, I consider Fawkes as Albus' personal familiar and as such, will leave Hogwarts when Albus leaves. Crookshanks is still Hermione's familiar at the present time in my fic.

**Lady-Frisselle** and **fenderbender505:** She's not married to them yet, still engaged at this point. The wedding will be during this fic at some point... -:zips her lip:-

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_Each giving Albus a quick hug, the two parts of the Golden Trio shared a nod, stepped through the portal and into..._

The exact same corridor they had left?

The only real difference between this corridor and the one they had just exited was the absence of Albus Dumbledore. Hermione gazed around. "Should we wait, or head toward his office and see what happened?"

Harry looked around as well, "I say we head to his office. And don't forget, nicknames only here."

"What makes you think that **I** would be the one to forget that, Bolt?" Hermione raised a brow at her companion as they walked the length of the corridor, dragging their trunks behind them.

"That's easy, Wildcat... Everyone knows that as soon as you get excited or angry you forget everything..." Harry gave Hermione a cheeky grin and ducked the swat she aimed his way.

"Just for that, I should..." But Harry never found out just what Hermione should do as their banter was interrupted by a voice at the end of the corridor.

"Ahh, I was wondering when you two would be along." Albus Dumbledore stood at the door from the corridor into his office. He looked much the same as always, though with a few less stress lines around his eyes. "I knew you would be here this year, but not exactly when. You would think that I would be a bit more specific when sending myself messages. Well, come along and I will show you two to your rooms."

Stunned into silence by the sheer speed with which Albus had issued his greeting, Harry and Hermione followed along mutely.

"Another thing I seem to have failed to mention to myself is that you two were not entirely human... I do hope that normal human accomodations will be suitable Miss... Er... Well, it seems I forgot yet another detail." Albus looked expectantly at the two.

"Wildcat... I'm Wildcat and he's Bolt." Hermione blinked, her tail flicking nervously. "And human accomodations will be more than fine." She attempted a reassuring smile.

"Wonderful! Such clever names, I can certainly see where you came across them. Now, here are your rooms. I hope you don't mind, it's one of the spare Head Common Rooms we have about the castle... Dinner will be in two hours, that should give you time to freshen up a bit. I'm sure you will want to go over your debriefing folder... Interesting word, that is: debriefing."

Still muttering to himself about various things, Albus finally stopped before a portrait of an explorer riding a magic carpet. "Here we are... The password is _Puppy Dog's Tail_. Just come through the staff entrance at dinner, you will be sitting at the head table." Leaving Harry and Hermione standing at the portrait, Albus continued on his way, still rambling to himself.

Once he had turned a corner, Hermione turned to look at Harry. "Has he always been as chatty as Lavender?"

Harry snickered. "Some days..." He gave a helpless shrug before turning and giving the password to the portrait. Heading inside, Harry frowned slightly. "It's just like when you were head back in 7th."

And sure enough, the decor of the common room matched the way it had been when Hermione was Head Girl. Though she knew it was all the way on the other side of the castle from where her old head common room was located. The floor was covered with a cream colored carpet that felt nice under Hermione's paws as she walked in to examine the decor.

Like the floor, the walls were a soft cream shade with metallic golden designs offering decoration. Doors were made of a light oak with golden words written in ancient runes offering the informatoin for what was on the other side. One door had a gold cougar and the other a gold pegasus. Both animal shapes were drawn sleeping, so they figured that was their bedrooms. There was a door between these two that held the image of a waterfall. Two other doors were marked only with runes and Hermione easily translated what all the doors said in order: Library, Wildcat, Bathroom, Bolt, Kitchen.

There was a large, squishy couch in the main room that seemed standard for any place in Hogwarts where a Gryffindor took up residence. The couch was beige with soft golden throw pillows and situated in front of the fireplace. Two pale oak desks with matching swivel chairs were on either side of the room. The desks held such things as parchment, ink and wax. Each desk was beneath a large window overlooking the castle grounds.

The door marked Library, when curiously opened by Hermione, revealed that it was merely a secret passage directly into the Restricted Section of the main library. The Kitchen door similarly led into the Hogwarts kitchen and Harry was nearly bombarded by House Elves when he checked. Next they inspected their own rooms. The bathroom was decorated in similar colors to the common room and held anything a visiting guest might need. Once these inspections were done, they checked out their individual rooms.

Harry's room was, at first glance, a stereotypical Gryffindor room on a grander scale. The carpet was a pale yellow that matched the walls ceiling. The four-poster bed had deep crimson sheets and pillows over which a golden quilt rested. But instead of the Gryffindor lion decorating the quilt, a large silver pegasus reared with wings spread. Heavy crimson drapes hung open around the bed. A pale oak wardrobe stood empty on one side of the room across from yet another desk. The desk was next to heavy crimson curtains that also held the silver pegasus image. When Harry opened the curtains, he found a large glass door that led out to a balcony.

The sunlight that entered when he opened the curtains sparkled on the wall opposite his bed and Harry turned to find a faint silver image on the wall of a pegasus lying down. It wasn't until the image pegasus moved to peer beneath it's wing at a small sleeping otter the movement revealed that Harry realized it was enchanted. With this knowledge, he grinned and skipped over to see Hermione's room. When he arrived, he found Hermione had already unpacked and was freshening up in the bathroom.

Hermione's room was done in silver, purple and blue. The carpet was a mixture of blues that seemed to resemble the gentle rippling surface of a large body of water. The walls and ceiling were a pale sky blue. Her wardrobe and desk were made of polished mahogany. The drapes on her four-poster bed were dark blue and, as they were open, Harry could see that Hermione's bed had dark purple sheets and pillows and a blue quilt. The quilt had a silver cougar that seemed to be attempting to leap off of the bed. Spying the closed curtains on the wall, Harry opened them to find a balcony that matched his own. Turning, he found a sight that brought forth a snicker.

The silver design on the wall opposite Hermione's bed was enchanted as well. Centered in the image, a cougar sat with a rather disgruntled expression on it's face as two tigers groomed it! One tiger was licking, and messing up, the fur atop the silver cougar's head while the other was licking the cougar's face as if cleaning off a bit of frosting. After a few minutes, the tigers seemed to grow bored with grooming. Less than two minutes later, Hermione came into the room wearing a bathrobe.

"Oh there you are, Harry." She walked over to her wardrobe. "I think we should have been a bit worried when Albus told us he had packed our trunks... I'm really curious as to what we're here for if he expects us to wear things like... This!" Hermione turned to face Harry holding up a leather outfit that rather resembled something she had worn to the Halloween Costume Party back in fifth year.

Harry nearly choked when he saw the outfit. "Are you serious? He expects you to wear -that- on the mission?"

Hermione nodded. "The only normal clothes he packed for me were two pairs of shorts, two tank tops and the rest is this!" It seemed Hermione couldn't tell if she was amused or infuriated. "Anyway, why don't you go get cleaned up while I get dressed and start reading our mission folder."

"All right..." It wasn't until Harry was safely locked away in the bathroom that he allowed himself to indulge in laughter... Right up until he saw that the trunk Albus had packed for him was missing all forms of shirts and only had various pairs of mostly leather shorts for him to wear!

"Good grief..."

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An hour later found Hermione and Harry sitting in their common room and going over the file. Hermione was wearing a dark blue tank top and black jean shorts while Harry was wearing a pair of green jean shorts that matched his eyes. Hermione was sprawled out on her stomach on the couch facing Harry as he sat backwards in one of the swivel chairs.

"So let me get this straight... We are here to teach a special class about tolerance, patience and understanding?" Harry raised a skeptical brow.

"According to the file." Hermione unsheathed a claw and poked at the page. "That's why we have such outrageous clothing. We're supposed to embrace our differences and be open with who we are at all times. Apparently it's also for... 'Drool Factor.'"

Harry, about to go off on some rant or another, stopped. "What?"

Snorting, Hermione plucked that particular page from the file and handed it to the pegasus hybrid.

"Fully aware that forms give much better physiques... Use to advantage... The drool factor will prompt students to pay attention... Allow you to drill things into their heads while their minds can't function properly to reject the information!" Harry couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry. "Fred, George, Draco and Ron would have loved this assignment. I wonder why he sent me along instead..."

"I think it's because this assignment is also a gift." Hermione had actually read just what the gift was while Harry was still in the bathroom, but she was keeping it as a surprise. "So should we get all dolled up for our introduction?"

Harry gave Hermione a suspicious look. "What do you mean dolled up?"

"Oh, you know... Albus packed accessories for us." She grinned. "I think he's been watching television programs like Xena and Hercules though, too much leather, metal and feathers..."

Covering his face with his hands, Harry groaned. "And we have to act like this is normal for us?"

"So it would seem... But on the plus side, we have hooded cloaks that we're supposed to wear on the walk from our rooms down to the Great Hall."

"That's good."

"But..."

"I knew there'd be a but!"

"We're supposed to take them off just before Albus introduces us to the entire school."

"Kill me now!"

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"This seems rather mild for him, you know..."

"What do you mean?"

Harry and Hermione had gotten ready, fixing themselves up to look like some freakish tribal half-breed clan or something and were currently walking side by side through the halls. They passed by a few students en route and felt unnerved by the curious stares and whispers they were receiving. Both wore the large cloaks that had been provided. Harry's cloak made him resemble a tall hunchback and that seemed to be drawing most of the attention.

What the students didn't realize was that the two they were whispering about could hear them perfectly. Thankfully for Harry and Hermione, this same fact allowed them to carry out a quietly whispered conversation without anyone the wiser.

"I mean that back home Albus would have encouraged us to have a repeat of the Halloween entrance."

Hermione tittered. "That does sound more like Albus. Maybe he's not as certain about the students reactions? I mean, back home we had been like this nearly about a week or so before the Halloween incident. They didn't just have it sprung on them out of the blue..."

"True..." Harry paused slightly, causing Hermione to pause as well. He seemed to stare in one direction for some time. "I smell something... Familiar."

Taking a sniff, Hermione nodded. "Can't quite place it though. Probably just one of the professors."

"You're probably right." Harry continued to stare from beneath the shadows created by his hood and then continued toward the Great Hall. "Where's the staff entrance?"

"This way." Hermione pointed. "At least we're past the students now. Their whispers were getting rather annoying."

Merely nodding, Harry came up short when they reached a door... Well, when they reached Albus Dumbledore where he stood in front of a door.

Albus smiled brightly. "So glad you found your way. Now, I was thinking... The students have gotten a bit too settled into the routine of things here, so what I am giving you two permission to do is rile things up. They'll never suspect it. Wait about ten or twenty minutes and then make your grand entrance." With those words, Albus turned and entered the Great Hall.

Pushing their hoods back, Harry and Hermione shared a grin. "Of course it won't be the same without the rest of the group... But what do you say we..."

And the duo quickly drew up a plan.

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"Now before we begin dinner, I have an announcement to make... All years will have a special mandatory class for the next month or two. New schedules will be issued during breakfast tomorrow. Please treat the new instructors with respect, as I am sure you will find it a rather foolish idea to get on their bad sides. Now, tuck in!" Albus seated himself, ignoring the questions from the staff as to why they hadn't been informed of this sooner.

Below the head table, the whispering was somewhat marred as people began filling their plates. Once the first edges of hunger had been taken off, the curious whispers started. Some students were lucky enough to have seen the two cloaked figures walking through the halls earlier and it seemed that they were now the stars of the gossip circuit.

It wasn't until most of the students had finished eating and the whispers started to rise in volume as the curiosity of youth took over that it happened...

**BANG!**

Though getting him to admit it would be difficult, Harry James Potter loved being able to slam open the doors of the Great Hall before charging in and causing a panic. And that's exactly what he did.

Free of the cloak and hybrid form of earlier, the large pegasus known as Bolt slammed open the doors with a shrill neigh. The students barely had time to register his presence with startled cries before he galloped into their midst. Large silver wings, the feathers tipped with black, spread as he leapt over two of the house tables, diverting what would have been a straight charge.

That wasn't all though, no sooner had the pegasus entered than true screams came from those nearest the door, drowning out the roar of the large cougar that followed close at the hooves of the pegasus. The cougar leaped gracefully onto one house table, over the heads of the students between before bouncing off the next table as it pursued the pegasus. At a glance, it seemed as if the predator had managed to injure the pegasus enough to prevent full flight and was now intent upon taking down it's prey.

The staff were on their feet in an instant, wands whipping out as the animals created chaos in the Hall. Despite the actions, no spells were fired off as the animals remained among the students, causing a distinct lack of a clear shot. Through all this, no one seemed to notice that Albus Dumbledore remained seated at the head table, taking bites from a slice of strawberry cheesecake as he watched the antics with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

As the pegasus galloped down the length of the Slytherin table, scattering food all over the students that hadn't backed as far out of the way as possible, the cougar seemed to have met a few braver souls over at the Gryffindor table. At the moment the large cat was surrounded by wand wielding Gryffindors and managing to dodge the spells that were being cast by the students. In fact, the cougar was doing such a good job at avoiding the spells that a few of the smarter students were starting to get a bit worried.

Not to be outdone by their hated rivals, a few of the more daring Slytherins had begun attempting to round up the pegasus. Though not as agile as the smaller cat, the pegasus seemed to do a rather good job of avoiding the hexes sent by the green and silver clad students. Rearing, the pegasus stallion flapped his shiny silver wings, catching the attention of the cougar in a preplanned signal...

**"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"**

As the piercing dual screech rang through not the ears, but the brains of the students, the animals acted. Powerful leaps were given, the cougar and pegasus both clearing the students surrounding their locations. It helped that the students and staff were doubled over in pain from the mental voices. The telepathic screeches cut off and everyone in the room turned to find not a pegasus and a cougar, but some kind of freaky comic-book character mixed breeds standing in the center of the Hall.

The female, very obviously female, cougar wore what appeared to be a leather bra and a loincloth. She had metal arm bands, bracelets and anklets with leather strips dangling at strategic points. Her wild mane fell to her waist in an impossible tangle of curls that had been decorated with leather, beads and feathers. The male wore a pair of tight leather shorts that ended just above the knees and a pair of leather bands strapped around his upper arms. He was pale, his dark hair tipped with silver and his wings now black with silver edges on the feathers. Like the female he had feathers and beads in his shoulder length, straight hair.

What startled the students the most was the fact that both wore smirks and had wands held in a deceptively casual manner, as if daring the spells to start flying around again.

It wasn't until Albus Dumbledore finally rose from his seat that the standoff was called to a halt. Clearing his throat, Albus addressed the students and staff.

"Everyone... Please welcome your special class instructors, Miss Wildcat..." Here Hermione twirled her wand, slipping it back into it's holster before taking a bow. "And Mr Bolt." Harry fanned his wings out, lowering into a graceful bow.

As he rose from his bow, Harry's eyes locked with a pair of hauntingly familiar emerald eyes in a pale, lightly freckled face framed with deep red hair. _Now I know what Albus meant when he said this trip was a gift..._ He thought as he smiled at the slightly younger girl that could only be his mother.

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**A/N: **Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 


	3. First Mission part 2

**A/N:** I disturb myself sometimes...

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Lily Evans walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room in a daze, surrounded by her fellow Gryffindors. The other seventh, not to mention the sixth and fifth year girls were clumped around the red-head and chattering excitedly. No one had missed that the stunningly handsome, almost angelic man had smiled a positively dreamy smile at Lily. Thus the Head Girl found herself as literally the center of attention as the large group headed up to their common room. 

The boys and young men of Gryffindor were closely following the girls. Most of them talking about 'Miss Wildcat' and wondering why that leather outfit of her's couldn't be modified slightly into the new Hogwarts uniform. However, one young man did not join in the almost girly chatter of his house mates.

Dark brown eyes belonging to one James Potter stared at the space-case his girlfriend Lily had become. Using one hand in an effort to smooth down his messy black hair, James' expression could rival a heartbroken puppy as he watched the other girls steer Lily into the common room and then up into the girls' dorms for a gossip session. She hadn't even seemed to notice he was alive since the incident in the Great Hall.

Turning, James quickly found that his almost-brother/best mate Sirius Black was excitedly talking to a group of sixth year boys over the leather-clad woman. Rolling his eyes, James turned his attention to his other best mates. Remus Lupin was leaning against the wall, his expression made it seem as if he knew something before he caught James watching him and tilted his head toward the stairs that would lead to their dorm. Giving him a slight nod, James allowed his gaze to turn to Peter Pettigrew who was currently acting as if he were Sirius' puppy with the way he practically bounced and wiggled in place as he agreed with Sirius.

Huffing slightly, James walked over and snagged a handful of Sirius' long black hair. "Sorry boys, new instructors means Marauder planning..." And with that, he dragged a yelping Sirius up the stairs with an anxious Peter and an amused Remus following along.

Once they were safe in their dorm, Sirius finally managed to pry his hair out of James' fingers. "Ouch, what was that for?" Sirius sat on Remus' bed and crossed his arms, a definite sulk settling into place. "All I wanted to do was figure out that short fuzzy fur she covered her entire body or if she had to wear the leather for a reason..."

"What happened down there?" James didn't seem to hear Sirius as he started pacing. "One minute we were having a nice conversation, then all hell breaks out, only to find out our new 'instructors' are some weird half-breeds and with one smile **my** girlfriend forgets I exist and gets all dreamy-eyed over one of those things?" He paced furiously around the room, waving his arms as he ranted.

Remus sat down next to Sirius on his bed and watched as James ranted. It was a rather amusing sight when the Head Boy got all worked up over something. He had wanted to share something he had overheard before dinner, but this impromptu entertainment session distracted him from ihs original intent.

"And what the hell kind of smile was that anyway? He looked like a stupid sot or something..."

Seating himself on his own bed, Peter lay down facing the center of the room and watched, eyes wide, as his hero seemed to forget anyone else was around.

"Of all the years in Hogwarts we have never had something like this happen before, why did Dumbledore have to go and bring those _things_ here this year?"

As James continued his rant, Sirius pawed through Remus' nightstand and dug out a plain deck of muggle playing cards. With a nod that clearly said James was going to take forever, Sirius and Remus began playing poker.

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Within the seventh year girls' dorm, an entirely different scene was taking place.

"Oh my God, Lily! You are sooo lucky!"

"Yeah! Did you see that smile? It was totally a bedroom smile..." This comment caused more than one sigh from the group of girls.

"I'm so glad Dumbledore decided on having the special class this year! I can't wait to get into the classroom with that hunk..."

This seemed to snap Lily out of her starry-eyed daze. "But what if he's already with that Wildcat girl? I doubt he'd be interested in any of us when he has her."

That comment gave the other girls pause. "It is possible... You have to admit that she was pretty. If you go for that tall, buff amazon look." The one that said this sounded slightly worried.

"But if he was with her, why would he give that bedroom smile to Lily?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Did it ever occur to any of you that maybe it wasn't a bedroom smile, maybe it was just a friendly smile?" Thankfully no one heard the hint of disappointment in her tone.

The comment itself was a big mistake.

"Oh gosh! If that was his friendly smile, I wonder what his bedroom smile looks like!"

This sent the girls off on another round of giggling gossip.

Lily groaned, falling back onto her bed, but as soon as she closed her eyes she saw that smile again and the entrancing emerald eyes that had brought a bright blush to her cheeks. Before she knew it, a giggle had escaped and Lily was drawn into the world of being a giggling school girl.

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Harry stormed into the common room he shared with Hermione, the feline following moments later. She made certain the portrait was secure and then cast a few privacy charms upon the entrance. Once that was done, she walked over and seated herself on the the sofa, waiting for the explosion. She was rather impressed when it took nearly thirty minutes for the explosion to occur.

"Why didn't he just tell us?" Little did Harry know, but his pacing was rather like someone else's in another part of the castle, though decidedly less angry and energetic.

"I'm assuming that's because it would ruin the surprise." There was no mistaking the grin in Hermione's voice.

Harry paused in his pacing and glared at her, though he couldn't hold the glare and grinned. "You've been spending too much time with the twins."

"Probably. But they're so much fun." Hermione patted the cushion next to her and smiled when Harry joined her on the sofa. "So, All-But-True-Brother-Of-Mine..." Gentle fingers began to pull the feathers from Harry's hair as she spoke, "At first thought it could have possibly been your daughter and maybe we were in the future."

Giving the feline-hybrid a startled look, Harry asked, "What on earth would make you think she could have been my daughter?"

Hermione gave Harry a 'duh' kind of look. "Because genius. You are currently engaged to Bloodpaw." She waited to see if he would catch on, but seeing the blank look on her best friend's face, she sighed. "With pureblood genetics, for whatever reason I don't know, it seems that children seem to turn into clones of their parents or other close relatives."

Harry and Hermione both paused to have the mandatory _Attack of the Clones_ thought.

"Though most have minor differences. It's the same reason everyone says you're just like your father. When I saw the young man sitting near her that looked remarkably like you, I figured maybe you and Bloodpaw had twins who, like most of pureblood descent, would look remarkably like their parents which would, in the case of a blend between you and a Weasley, appear remarkably like James Potter and Lily Evans."

Thinking about this, Harry eventually nodded. "So basically my kids could look just like my parents?"

"Of course!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "But then I saw Sirius, Remus and... Peter."

They both paused again, mandatory thoughts of murder going through their minds.

"Too bad Albus told us that they wouldn't remember us once we left." Harry's tone was saddened and Hermione moved over to hug him.

"Don't worry, Brother-Mine. I've also figured it out. Albus told us that we couldn't use our names... This is for public reasons, no one can find out we don't really exist in this time and start asking questions that could lead to Voldemort coming after us... But that doesn't mean we can't take some aside later on and tell them the truth."

Both were once more off in thought-land, staring blankly into the fire as they held each other like siblings lost in the Forbidden Forest. It seemed hours had gone by before either spoke again.

"Hermione...?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Have I told you lately that you're bloody brilliant?"

"No, not lately."

Harry gave a nod against her side and once more lapsed into silence.

Eight minutes later:

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"You're bloody brilliant."

Hermione grinned. "I think that's the longest you've managed to hold it in..." Right then, something registered. "It was Remus we smelled in the corridor!"

Harry sat up. "Oh no..."

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Back in the Gryffindor Seventh Year Boys' Dorm...

James had finally exhausted all possibilities of his rant. It had seriously helped when even Peter had gotten fed up with the Head Boy's antics and had thrown a pillow, hitting James squarely on the side of his head. Once the wrestling match that had spawned ended, James being declared the winner, all four boys had taken up residence on Remus' bed and were playing poker.

"Spill, Moony." James finally piped up, his voice a bit hoarse from the earlier rant. "You know something, I saw that look in the common room earlier."

Peter and Sirius turned to look at Remus with curious expressions while James used the opportunity to peek at their cards.

"Well... It mostly confuses me. But I want to warn you now that these 'instructors' have hearing that's at least as good as mine." He used finger quotes on the word 'instructors.' "I was heading down to return a book to the library when I saw them walking by wearing cloaks. They were murmuring so softly I didn't even realise they were having a conversation at first..."

Sirius and Peter leaned in a bit, rather like a group of busybody old housewives eager for gossip. James, able to multitask exceptionally well, deftly replaced some of their cards while listening.

"But like I said, it didn't make much sense. They said that back home Albus would encourage them to do a repeat of a Halloween entrance and the other students having known about them longer, not them just popping up out of the blue. Then they paused and said they smelled something familiar so I hurried on." Remus looked worried. "Guys, I think they could tell I was a werewolf by my scent."

Sirius leaned closer and took an exaggeratedly loud sniff. "Whew! Dunno if you smell like a werewolf, but you definitely need a bath, Moony!"

James and Peter laughed while Remus reached over and smacked Sirius upside the head. "Dolt..."

"Well, even if they couldn't tell, Dumbledore probably told them. I mean, all of the teachers are supposed to know, right?"

"Wormtail has a good point." James conceeded. "Still, their conversation leaves many questions. Should we, as honorable Marauders..." He managed to ignore the snickers at the word 'hororable.' "Investigate the peculiarities of these new instructors?"

"No." Surprisingly enough, that was Sirius. "If we investigate them, we might find out that that sexy Wildcat is a lesbian or something..."

Right about then there was a good five minute drool session as all four Marauders suddenly had a hard time focusing on anything else...

"But then again, that wouldn't be a bad discovery." Sirius grinned, realising the foolishness of even suggesting that would be a bad to learn.

"Or maybe she has a massive boyfriend already!" They had already decided that Bolt wasn't her boyfriend, why else would he smile like that at Lily? Peter gloated slightly when Sirius' pleased expression fell at his comment.

Suddenly James, Sirius and Peter all found themselves lying on the floor.

"Ow!"

"What the f..."

"Moony!"

"I'm tired, you guys go play on your beds."

Knowing how quickly their friend could descend into King Grumpy-pants when he wasn't allowed to sleep, the three displaced Marauders wandered off to their own beds with a _Brady Bunch _round of goodnights.

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The next morning, the Marauders indulged in frequent glances at the head table. This went completely unnoticed, as pretty much everyone was doing the same thing. Both of the new instructors were decked out in clothing similar to what they wore the night before, though Wildcat's leather was a pale creamy color and it looked as if Bolt was wearing jean shorts instead of leather. It was the revealing attire surrounded by all enshrouding robes that demanded such attention from the students... And even some of the staff!

"What is that red stuff Wildcat is eating?" It was Peter that had noticed the way the half-breed indulged in chunks of something red that she seemed to relish.

His question caused the other three Marauders to turn their focus once more to the head table where they watched entranced as she delicately plucked a chunk from her plate and moved it to her lips. Wildcat slid the small cube into her mouth, pausing to lick her fingers. Her attention seemed to be on Bolt who seemed to be talking around a bite of apple.

After a moment, Remus answered. "Looks like..." He gulped. "Raw meat."

Shivering slightly, the Marauders abruptly turned their attention back to their own plates, their own breakfasts not seeming quite as appealing as before. That lasted perhaps three minutes before their seventeen and eighteen year old male appetites once more demanded attention.

"Today!"

Startled, the four young men looked up to find Lily standing over them. She held a handful of parchments in her hand before passing one to each of the boys. "After our normal classes today we get the special class for two hours!" Lily looked very pleased with this as she seated herself next to James. "And again for two hours Fridays."

Looking at their schedules, they saw that they did indeed sit two classes a week, two hours each. As seemed typical for all potentially interesting classes, they had to sit it with the Slytherins. Hopefully their instructors wouldn't play favorites... Unless they were favoring Gryffindors, of course!

"So I guess we'll find out just what these special classes are for later today..."

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At lunch that day, the younger years seemed to be bouncing. Apparently they had their first special class that morning during what used to be their free period. Surprisingly, none of the talked about what the actual class was, most of the fourth years were more interested in talking about the way the instructors had looked. While the other students were quite content with this information, it didn't truly help anything... Maybe... Ok, so it was very helpful, but not for purposes of education!

Finally, the seventh year Gryffindors and Slytherins made their way to where the special class was being held on the third floor. According to one of the fourth years that had actually paid attention in class, the instructors had wanted to hold class outdoors, but since it was already December, the decided to spare the students from being out in the cold too long.

Filing into the class one by one or in groups, eventually all eighteen seventh students from the two houses had entered the room and taken seats. There were no desks, the place looked more like a common room than a class room, the reason apparent when they saw their instructors transfiguring a chair into a bean bag.

"Honestly, Bolt... A bean bag?"

"Someone will want to use it eventually, just you watch..." With that, the new bean bag chair joined an assortment of couches, chairs and cushions on which the students were invited to sit.

"Good afternoon students... For those of you that were not paying attention last night... I am Miss Wildcat and this is Mr Bolt. We are not professors, so use of that title is not necessary." Hermione stood before the class, her tail flicking absent-mindedly. "The reason this class is being held is to teach you tolerance, patience and understanding for those not like yourself."

Predictably, this revelation caused the Slytherins to sneer derisively.

Ignoring the Slytherins, she continued. "Bolt and I are two of the seven original members of what is still a relatively small and new race called Animalities." Hermione flicked her wand at a blackboard and the word appeared. "We were once average witches and wizards. But an accident caused us to be permanently bonded with an animal persona that can at times take over our daily lives."

Hermione sighed, seeing glazed expressions on half the faces in the room. "If you could kindly stop staring at my tits long enough pay attention, I will demonstrate just why tolerance and understanding are good things to have when dealing with Animalities."

Harry, along with more than one student, mostly the girls, gave amused snorts at her blatant and bored use of the word 'tits.' Most of the boys in class suddenly sported guilty expressions which, for the most part, were swiftly concealed.

Walking over to a table, Hermione scooped something into her hand. Making certain the students were paying attention, she walked up beside Harry and placed her hand in front of his face. Harry's wings flicked slightly as he caught the scent of what she held and before he could stop himself, he was eating right out of her hand.

The students laughed, a few making whipped sounds while Hermione smirked. Harry, once he had finished whatever it was she had held, sent the cougar woman a death glare. Hermione gave a cheeky grin in return and turned back to the students.

"Despite the seeming silliness of that... It was a very apt demonstration for the main part of our classes. Animalities, especially when first turned, have quite a bit of difficulty controlling the instincts of their animal selves." Hermione moved back to the table and held up a bowl. "Sugar cubes." She explained, sending an amused look toward the irritated Harry.

The revelation brought amused snorts and giggles from all around the class.

"But there is another thing to keep in mind... While Bolt might not be so inclined, my own instincts can have... Violent tendencies." All amusement had left her amber gaze when she said this and the students went silent. "Now, does anyone have any questions?" Seeing several hands go up, Hermione gestured toward Lily. "Yes, Miss... ?"

"Lily Evans." Lily smiled shyly, her emerald gaze flicking to Harry for a brief moment before she turned back to Hermione. "Are Animalities anything like Animagi?"

"So glad you asked that... While both types are related to animals, we come about in different ways. We have learned through testing that Animagi cannot be turned into Animalities..." Neither Hermione nor Harry missed the sudden flicker of disappointment on three familiar faces. "We did learn from Animagi, allowing us to do such things as this..." She turned to look expectantly at Harry.

The class all turned to watch as Harry sat up from his lounging position and seemed to melt. His body grew larger, colors shifting in that unique way until the black pegasus with silver wings stood elegantly before them. He stretched a wing, pulling it around to the front to preen at his feathers in a vain manner that drew snickers from a few students. Once he had finished his preening, he shifted back into his hybrid form with a lazy smile on his face. The class applauded.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione continued. "Unlike an Animagus, an Animality cannot, once turned, return to a full human form..." She exchanged a brief look with Harry after giving the half-lie from the 'history' they had worked out for Animalities. "Any other questions? Yes, Mister...?"

"Severus Snape..." The boy with limp black hair and large nose sat up straighter. "What did you mean by bonded with an animal?"

Hermione smiled pleasantly, though she could sense Bolt's annoyance at this particular student speaking up. "I suppose it isn't a true bond, as there were no real animals involved... The accident that turned us latched onto our emotional state at the time it occured." The class was listening intently now. "Then, once it had a hold of our emotions, it seemed to search our mnemonic lexicon of the animal kingdom, both muggle and wizarding, and forced our bodies into the hybrid breed of whichever animal most closely fit our emotional state."

Satisfied with the intelligent answer, Severus settled back onto the bean bag chair...

A brown haired Slytherin girl got to ask the next question. "What kinds of Animalities are there at present?"

This question caused another glance to be shared by the instructors before Harry spoke up. "Quite a few breeds have been touched..." He reached into a bag from earlier and started enlarging wizarding photos which were then affixed around the classroom. The photos, which the students didn't know had been edited to remove any trace of Hogwarts or familiar faces, showed a variety of hybrid Animalities doing various activities.

The one that Harry first showed had the seven original Animalities hanging out by a wall. "This is the original group here... Myself, Wildcat, Prints and Tracks, Galleon, Moonshine and Bloodpaw." He pointed out each Animality to the students. The next one was of a blue dragon hybrid animated to show changing between hybrid and animal form. "FireEye..." On and on the list went, eventualy showing all the Animalities that had either been one temporarily during the Final Battle, or had turned in the three and a half years after the battle. There were nearly fifty in total, most of them old school mates of the seven originals. By far and above, the most amusing of these images was the one of a giant furball called Fluffy flicking off the camera.

Once the awed students could draw their gazes from the pictures, Hermione spoke up once more. "We have time for one last question... Mister?"

"Black, Sirius Black..." Sirius flashed a winning grin at Wildcat and she rolled her eyes at his James Bond attempt. James tried not to laugh, he knew what was coming and, judging from the way Remus covered his eyes with one hand, he knew as well. "I was wondering if you would go on a date with me this weekend?"

Hermione and Harry both managed to refrain from bursting into laughter at the question, though how neither knew. Eventually, when she felt she could control herself, Hermione held her left hand forward, the light glinting off the gold and amber ring. "Sure, just as soon as you manage to get my fiancees to agree..."

Sirius sulked, then he seemed to catch on. "Fiancees?" He stressed the multiple insinuation.

"Of course." Harry's voice was positively cheerful. "Wildcat is engaged to both Prints and Tracks."

Turning once more to look at the group photo, Sirius paled upon seeing the massively muscular tigers Bolt had identified as Prints and Tracks. The tiger hybrids in the picture, having heard the conversation, wrapped their arms possessively around the picture Wildcat and glared in Sirius' direction. He gulped audibly, causing half the class to laugh at him, before sulking.

"That's all for today. Class dismissed. And if we don't see you before then, we'll see you Friday!" Bolt cheerfully shooed the class out the door. Once the last students were on their way, he turned back to grin at Wildcat...

Hermione blinked at the look, confused.

"I can't believe you actually said tits!"

Harry burst into laughter as Hermione turned a brilliant scarlet.

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**A/N:** I was going to end this before the first lesson, but I realized if I did that, there would be about a million more chapters than I wanted to have! I'm already starting on the next chapter, so it should hopefully be out in the next couple days. Don't be afraid to review! It inspires my muse when she gets to read reviews... 


	4. First Mission part 3

**A/N: **Firstly, many thanks to all my reviewers! I've been a bit lax in that respect lately... Secondly, it occurred to me that not everyone would know the secret to 'editing' wizarding photos... While I don't know if wizarding photos can actively interact with their viewers in canon, I certainly like the idea that they can. So to 'edit' such a photo, all one needs to do is tell the people in the image what to do. The photo wizards and witches then transfigure, charm, hex, curse or whatever it takes and voila! Edited wizarding photographs!

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If Harry hadn't grown accustomed to the interesting 'vocabulary' Hermione had finally picked up during their Auror training, not to mention from the twins, he might have continued teasing her about the 'tits' comment for the rest of their natural lives. As it was, it only took one good knock upside the head to get him to drop the matter. This, of course, led to him teasing her that maybe she had taken too eagerly to the physical combat training...

For the next couple days, Sirius, James and Remus attempted to discretely tail the instructors. Their task didn't go as easily as they would have liked. The instructors were uncommonly swift on foot and seemed to vanish the instant they stepped around a corner. This trick of their's caused the Marauders no small amount of frustration and, before they knew it, their Friday lesson was beginning.

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The second special class for the seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors began with yet another demonstration. Though, unfortunately for Bolt and Wildcat, this demonstration was not planned. It was later learned that one Slytherin had bet another ten galleons that he wouldn't smack Wildcat's arse when she walked by during their next lesson. While Slytherins are not normally the bravest of people, they can be motivated into a false bravery with the prompt of easy money...

SMACK!

The sound barely had time to register before a whirlwind of activity took place. The instant the Slytherin boy's hand connected, he suddenly found out just why she had warned them of violent tendencies...

Despite the fact that he wasn't exactly a lightweight, or short for that matter, the seventh year suddenly found himself dangling a foot above the ground and choking for breath. The students nearest backed up with startled screams as Wildcat held him up with one hand around his throat and snarled savagely. Claws unsheathed as she drew her hand back for a vicious, and most likely bloody swipe...

That was when the class learned just why they had two instructors for this class.

In a flash, Bolt had crossed the room and slammed into Wildcat just before her claws could strike the flesh of the student. The unfortunate Slytherin fell onto the cushion he had been using a chair, gasping in great lungfuls of air and rubbing his throat. Turning, he saw Wildcat and Bolt rolling on the ground and more than one student backed away from the scene before Bolt finally managed to pin Wildcat to the ground.

Panting for breath, Bolt actually had a grin on his face despite the numerous bloody scratches on his face, arms and torso. "Been a while since I've had to do that..." He commented, then seemed to notice that Wildcat was still snarling and put on a stern face. "Wildcat!" He barked, his tone that of a commander. "You can_not_ kill the students!"

It would have been funny if his tone hadn't been so serious...

No less than ten students thanked whatever deity was listening when Wildcat finally calmed down. Bolt rose, reaching down to help Wildcat to her feet. He checked to make certain she was okay and then gave her a hug. When the embrace ended, Wildcat moved over to the Slytherin while Bolt moved to the front of the class.

"My most sincere apologies, Mr Creed." Wildcat's normally strong tone was more subdued. "Please allow me to escort you to the hospital wing..."

The poor Creed boy seemed to want to decline the offer, but couldn't come up with an excuse before Wildcat took his arm and led him from the room.

The remaining students turned wide eyes on Bolt as soon as they left and he looked a bit nervous. "Heh... Well, now that you've been given a better demonstration on why we need to hold these lessons..." He gave the class a rueful smile, causing more than one girl to practically swoon, as he remembered the last 'demonstration.' "I'll see if I can get the lesson going while we wait for Wildcat."

While Hermione was gone, Harry taught the class about the strange mentalities that can develop when becoming an Animality. He described how he saw the other Animalities as members of his 'herd' and even amused them by describing Moonshine's stronger pack mentality. As he spoke, he absent-mindedly flicked his wand over his various scrapes from the minor scuffle, removing any trace of Wildcat's temper. This somehow turned into a brief look at Animality laws.

"Back home, our government is bringing forth laws concerning Animalities. You have to pass all sorts of exams, both medical and intelligence, before you are allowed to be turned. Not to mention the laws in place to protect our rights and protect us against law suits in case we can't control our instincts, especially when we are first turned. Though, as Wildcat has demonstrated, not even those that have delt with them the longest can always control themselves..."

Eventually, Hermione returned and, upon learning what Harry had taught them so far, she continued on that same line... After first apologizing to the class for her disturbance!

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By the time curfew had rolled around that night, the story of Wildcat nearly mauling a seventh year Slytherin had spread to every student in every house. The story had been told and retold until some younger Hufflepuffs had fainted, thinking they were seeing a zombie when passing Creed as he stalked through the halls. The professors expressed concern, but were assured by Albus Dumbledore that everything was fine and neither Animality had broken any laws.

For his effort, and suffering, Vinnie Creed became fifty galleons richer.

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Saturday morning dawned bright and cheerful... Too bright and cheerful. The clouds that had seemed perpetual the last week had cleared off and now the brilliant sun glared dangerously on the thick blanket of snow that carpetted the grounds. While no one seemed too eager to get up early on the weekened, some students were uncommonly cheerful as they bounded out of their dormitories and to breakfast.

After the owls had delivered their morning mail, the Headmaster cheerfully informed the students that perhaps they should take advantage of the break in the weather to participate in some winter activities outdoors. His _suggestion _was met mostly with grumbles, a few cheers and a number of war declarations flew back and forth among the students. All in all, Albus thought it would be a good day.

Polishing off their breakfasts in record time, the Marauders soon quit the Gryffindor table and practically flew out of the Great Hall. War had been declared and now they had to get outdoors to prepare for a grand snowball fight... Preferably before anyone else managed to get outside. They may be Gryffindors, but the Marauders were not above such dirty tactics as striking before anyone knew what was coming.

Remus and Peter worked on building the main and smaller Marauder Forts while James and Sirius stockpiled the fort with charmed snowballs. The snowballs had charms for changing colors, turning things invisible, levitating... Standard snowball war charms. A few snowballs were given special charms and set aside for Slytherins. Once things were set, the Marauders took up specific vantage points around the entrance and waited.

And waited...

And... The door creaked open, the sound of laughter coming from the castle and before they bothered to check who their targets were, four snowballs hit their marks!

"James Potter!"

James gulped and peeked from his hiding spot. "Yes Lily-dearest?"

"How many times do I have to tell you..." The purple haired, faceless Lily Evans stormed over to the Head Boy and took hold of his cloak. "Look before you throw!"

It must be noted that Lily's dark purple hair looked wicked considering her entire head seemed to be invisible.

"More times than you should have had to?" James gulped slightly, not really wanting to piss his girlfriend off too much.

"Exactly!" Lily gave James a kiss, letting him know she wasn't too upset.

"Lily! That's just gross!" One of the other Seventh Year Gryffindor girls made a gagging sound.

Whatever it was she found gross apparently amused the hell out of Sirius who was openly laughing at the couple. "Gross, yes... But funny as hell getting to watch James kissing the air like that."

Breaking the kiss, Lily conjured a mirror and glanced at her reflection. All she could see was purple hair... Giving a laugh, Lily stole one of James' snowballs and smushed it into his face, turning his skin olive green. "There, now let's get set up. We have to defend Gryffindor's honor..."

Cheering, the Marauders and their official and unofficial female counterparts prepared for war.

They were just in time before the rest of the students started piling out of the castle and soon all hell broke loose. Some students managed to escape the rather harsh snowball war by sneaking off for walks, or to the Quidditch Pitch. Some even took ice skates and went out to the frozen lake. All in all, it seemed a typical winter weekend.

At least until their new special class instructors returned from a trip to who-knows-where.

It started with a sparkle of silver that caught Lily's eye. She stopped mid-throw to look for the source of light. Eventually she spotted the cause and watched, quickly drawing the attention of several other girls to the sight of the black and silver pegasus circling down for a landing. The boys soon discovered the lack of attention on the part of the girls and followed their gazes upward.

Seeing the pegasus in flight caused conflicting emotions within James Potter. On one hand, he finally knew if the pegasus instructor could fly or not, and on the other hand, he also knew that even as a horse that instructor could claim the attention of **his** Lily. James frowned moodily at the Animality as he backwinged to a neat landing.

It wasn't until Bolt landed that anyone noticed Wildcat was mounted on his back. Sweeping his wings aside, the cougar-woman slid off her friend and landed on the ground. As Bolt shifted back into his hybrid form, more than one student's jaw dropped. They had known their new instructors didn't seem to feel the need to hide their differences, but to go around wearing skimpy leather outfits in the snow?

Wildcat, who had been holding several parcels, handed half of her load to Bolt and, giving slight waves to the students, the two instructors walked calmly up toward the castle doors as if nothing were out of the ordinary at all. Once they were safely inside, James, Sirius and Remus exchanged glances and started up the snowball war once more.

As the other students became engrossed in the war, they slipped away and into the castle unnoticed... Mostly. Only moments later Lily slipped into the castle as well.

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The Marauders' plan to track down the two instructors to sate their curiosity failed for two very important reasons. First, they forgot that the instructors had that annoying tendency to just vanish. Second... The instructors were waiting for the Marauders to follow them and, using their advanced stealth skills, were actually trailing the boys instead of the other way around.

It didn't take long for Lily to catch up to James, Sirius and Remus, and when she did, James hit upon the brilliant idea to split up and cover more ground. Sirius argued that James just wanted to get Lily alone and that was how it James and Sirius ended up in the kitchens while Lily and Remus wound up in the library.

They really were attempting to track down the instructors. They just had things to do first... Honest!

At any rate, as the groups split up, Bolt and Wildcat had a quick mental conversation. Telepathy was a minor Animality ability most commonly used in full animal form that they had learned to develop during their Auror training. It was a very useful skill.

_"If they had split up the other way, my job would have been easier."_

_"Quit your bitching, 'Mione. This can still be used to our advantage."_

_"Fine, but don't expect it to be quite so easy for me to get both of them to come."_

A soft snort of amusement greeted that comment.

_"Oh grow up..."_

_"Sorry, it comes with all the time we've spent around the Weasleys."_

Making a disbelieving sound, Wildcat shook her head and headed down toward the kitchens. Just as they were about to get out of range for their telapathic communication, she sent another thought.

_"Muffle your hooves... Sounds like you're wearing high heels."_

_"Argh! I thought you guys had enough of that joke back in fifth year?"_

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Lily Evans and Remus Lupin were just exiting the library when it happened. Remus had been explaining why the Marauders were attempting to follow the new instructors, basically just admitting that they were bored and there was a minor mystery about the Animalities. Lily found the whole thing amusing, especially the way Remus suddenly jumped and looked guilty when they left the library and came face to face with Bolt.

Without James anywhere nearby to distract her, and with Bolt standing there wearing just a pair of dragon-hide trousers, Lily couldn't help it when she found herself staring at the eye-pleasing image. It was the first time she had ever been this close and, in a near drool-inducing moment, she realized that Bolt's strong chest had a fine layer of creamy white fur. _So that's why he looks so pale..._

The predator in Remus couldn't help but admire the pegasus/human hybrid as well. Though not even Remus was certain as to if it was because of the Animality's looks or because Bolt was a prey species twice over. He gulped when he realized that Bolt was looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

"Good m-morning, Mr...Er, Bolt..." Remus blushed as he stuttered. "Umm... Did you have a good... Flight?"

Lily was still incapable of speech at this point, ogling the special class instructor.

"Good morning. Yes, I had a wonderful flight. Thank you for asking." Bolt nodded and seemed about to walk by then before apparently changing his mind. "Mr Lupin, Miss Evans... Could you please accompany me?" Without waiting for a response, Bolt started off down the corridor.

Remus looked over at Lily, swearing later that he saw a bit of drool, before swatting her just hard enough on the arm to shake her from her stupor. "C'mon..." He started following the hybrid.

Turning a shade of red that nearly matched her hair, Lily made a small squeak sound and scampered to follow Remus and Bolt. It wasn't until she was close that she slowed to a normal walk and fell in behind them. She found her traitorous mind offering the opinion that the view wasn't bad at all even as she decided to get a pair of trousers like those for James...

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"Is it just me, or are we being watched?" Sirius Black looked around as he and his bestest best friend James Potter emerged from the kitchens. Both Sirius and James carried two large wicker baskets filled with food.

James looked around, the light glinting off his glasses. "I think we are, but it's probably just the house elves hoping that we'll come back." He shrugged off the sensation, turning for the trek up to Gryffindor Tower.

Sirius didn't seem as convinced. "I dunno, the elves have never given off that creepy feeling before."

"Creepy feeling? What are you, five?" James laughed as he draped the handles of both baskets he carried over one arm, promptly using the free hand to swat Sirius upside the head and causing the slightly taller boy to fumble the baskets he was carrying slightly.

"Ow! What's with the abuse?" Sirius grumped, checking under the lid to one of the baskets. "Good thing for you that the frosting on the cupcakes wasn't damaged..."

Rolling his eyes, James looked highly amused. "As if smeared frosting would matter with how they taste."

"It does!" Sirius started off on a long-winded rant about how perfectly frosted cupcakes tasted better than messy ones. However, he didn't get far into the explanation before he suddenly found himself face down on the floor and missing a certain sweet-filled basket. "What the..."

"Hey!" James nearly fell over with the same impact that had knocked Sirius on his face, stumbling a few steps before regaining his balance. He looked ahead to see a tawny cougar standing halfway down the corridor from them and holding Sirius' cupcake basket by the handle in it's... _Her _teeth. "Very amusing, Wildcat. Can we have our basket back?"

Sirius picked himself up, "Yeah, that's the basket with the desserts in it..." He dusted himself off and took long strides over to the cougar.

Just when he was almost in range, Wildcat jumped back and ran a couple dozen yards before stopping. She turned to look at them, an almost expectant look in her amber eyes.

"Come on, what gives?" Sirius was starting to get cranky... She had the _sugar_! He made to pounce on the cougar only to hit the floor again as she moved just in time.

Perking her ears forward, Wildcat gave the Marauders the impression that she was laughing at them before she turned and ran further away. She paused every now and then, looking back and once even sitting down to obviously wait for them.

Eventually getting a clue, Sirius and James took up a jogging pace and curiously followed the thieving cougar.

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Once she was certain that James and Sirius were following, Hermione made sure that she stayed far enough ahead of them that they could only catch glimpses of her as she turned corners and ran through secret passages. When she reached the portrait of the explorer riding the magic carpet, she closed her eyes and charged right through the image as if it were not even there. It was a handy trick, one that Crookshanks had taught the Animalities back in her fifth year.

Hermione's sudden appearance startled Remus and Lily, both of them jumping to their feet from the soft, cream colored sofa and reaching for their wands. They stopped when they saw it was her, Lily giving an amused smile at the way the cougar looked with a basket dangling from her mouth. Stalking over, she dropped the basket onto the glass and gold coffee table and shifted back into her hybrid form.

"They're coming." Hermione said as Harry emerged from his room with a familiar photo album. She stood up straight and waved her wand around herself in a manner that created a usefully near-blinding glow. When the glow cleared, she seemed to be... Human.

Remus' jaw dropped at what he assumed was a human illusion of the normally hybrid instructor. She saw his surprise and winked, fishing a sugar biscuit out of the basket and walking over just as a pounding started on the portrait...

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Sirius and James skidded around a corner just in time to see Wildcat's tail slither into a portrait. They paused, exchanging a glance before stalking over to the explorer painting.

"I don't remember any secret passageways being here..." James looked skeptically at the portrait.

Thinking back to when they still had the Marauder's Map, Sirius also didn't remember any passages here. "Maybe it's a guest room?" With that, Sirius knocked on the frame.

No sooner had Sirius knocked than the portrait opened. Standing in the open doorway was a young woman. She was a bit on the small side, probably not even five and a half feet tall, and had deep chocolate brown eyes. She wore a pair of prim, pale blue robes that concealed any figure she might have had. Brown hair was pulled up into a neat bun that gave her a librarian quality.

Having expected to see the taller, muscular and exotic Wildcat, Sirius was disappointed to find a librarian hiding away in the room. "Er... We're looking for a... Cougar."

The rather plain looking librarian raised a skeptical brow. "A cougar? Really... And why are you looking for this cougar?" Her tone was patronizingly annoying.

"It... She stole our dessert." James seemed to realize how idiotic that sounded even as he said it. "Um..."

"So you decided to... Chase a cougar... That had stolen your... Dessert?" The woman was looking at them as if they were stupid. "Isn't it considered dangerous to chase a wild animal that apparently wanted food... In the middle of a castle?" She lifted the hand holding the sugar biscuit and took a small bite, waiting for the boys to respond.

James and Sirius exchanged a brief look, looking a bit uncertain now. Whatever they might have said was broken off by the familiar sound of Remus laughing at them coming from behind the woman.

"Moony?" James tried to peek beyond the woman and saw Remus leaning over the edge of a couch to see the other two Marauders so that he could laugh at them. "What are you doin' in there?"

Hermione, aka the librarian, managed not to laugh and pasted a surprised look on your face. "Oh... Are these friends of your's, Remus? Well, why don't you come on in, boys... A basket of goodies just appeared not too long ago."

She cheerfully moved aside and gestured for them to enter and, once they were in, she closed the door. While they were busy looking around, she cast quite a few locking and privacy spells on the doorway and the common room in general. Once that was complete, she walked over to the coffee table and swiped a couple more sugar biscuits before moving to sit at the desk she had claimed for the duration of the mission.

After taking in the room, the boys spied their basket sitting on the coffee table, the contents of which were being plundered by Remus, Lily and Bolt. Lily was nibbling at a chocolate chip biscuit as if afraid that Bolt would think her a pig if she ate too fast or too much. It was something both Hermione and Harry found amusing.

"Why are you guys hanging out here?" Sirius was looking at Lily and Remus accusingly before he sat on the floor and set his other basket on the table as well. "Weren't you going to the library?"

"We did go to the library." Remus nicked a treacle tart from one of James' baskets before the Head Boy could deposit them on the table. "But seeing as we were looking for Bolt and Wildcat, when Bolt came and asked us to come here, we figured why not?"

"Which brings us to the other point." Lily had finished her biscuit by now and was peeking into the other baskets. "They said they have something to tell us in private."

Bolt, busy stuffing a piece of strawberry cake into his mouth, gestured over to where the woman was sitting at the desk.

Hermione finished writing something down and cast a charm. Standing, she brought the piece of parchment over to the table and set it down along with an everlasting eagle quill that had been monogrammed with the letters HW. "Before we can explain, we need you to sign this confidentiality contract." Her expression was challenging and, for a moment, Harry expected her to add on a dare.

Remus, Lily, James and Sirius exchanged uncomfortable expressions. It wasn't often that teachers asked you to sign, no doubt magically binding, contracts. Whatever it was they wanted to say, it must have been very important.

"And if we don't?"

"If you don't, we modify your memories of this day and you never find out the answers to questions that have been on the edge of your mind since we arrived." Harry had finally finished his cake.

One might think that would be enough of a reason for the Marauders, but their curiosity didn't extend to signing unknown contracts with virtual strangers just for something they could probably find out on their own. After all, they couldn't be master pranksters if they didn't know how to spy.

Seeing their doubt, Hermione added something that they couldn't resist. "Dumbledore doesn't even know all of what we plan on telling you."

That was enough for Sirius and James, both took turns and signed the parchment. As soon as each finished signing, their names glowed golden, causing a brief gold glow to come over them as well as the magic bound them to the agreement. Seeing as James and Sirius had already signed, Remus signed as well. It took a moment of all three of the present Marauders staring at her before Lily added her signature to the parchment.

Bolt laughed like a demon as he swiped the parchment off the table and tucked it into his pants. "Mwahahahaha! Now your souls are mine!"

"**WHAT!**"

* * *

**A/N:** This one took a while to get out. My muse was arguing with itself over how to work one of the scenes. Either the next chapter, or the one after that will be the end of the First Mission. It depends on how much my muse manages to get done in the next chapter. Thanks again to all my reviewers! 


	5. First Mission Complete

_Bolt laughed like a demon as he swiped the parchment off the table and tucked it into his pants. "Mwahahahaha! Now your souls are mine!"_

_"**WHAT!**" _James Potter didn't seem to take that well at all...

Lily Evans was too busy hyperventilating to say anything.

"_Oh my God_! I _trusted_ you!" Sirius Black acted remarkably like a woman sometimes...

And Remus Lupin looked as if he didn't know if he should laugh or cry.

This lasted for all of the four minutes Harry Potter, aka Bolt, and Hermione Granger, aka Wildcat, managed to keep the evil grins on their faces before bursting out into laughter. Harry fell over onto his side as he laughed, one hand smacking helplessly against the floor. Hermione attempted to stifle the laughs behind her hand only to burst into further fits of giggles.

Needless to say, the four students were **not** amused...

Well, three of them were not amused. Once he realized it was a joke, Remus easily gave in to the earlier confusion and laughed along with the instructors. Though there was a bit of skeptical wariness to his laugh.

Harry and Hermione stopped laughing at the same instant, giving intense stares to the four that caused Remus to choke on his giggles. It was creepy the way the two acted as if they were mentally linked as they watched the students and James, Sirius, Remus, and Lily squirmed in their spots. The soul thing had been a joke... Right?

Then Hermione's lips twitched and Harry gave another snort of laughter and the tension left the room.

"Oh thank Merlin..." Remus' whisper of relief caused Harry to start laughing again while Hermione composed herself by clearing her throat.

"First of all, it really was just a privacy contract. You will literally be unable to speak of anything you hear inside this room when not in this room. And I don't encourage trying as it tends to make one look like a fool..." There was a mysterious sparkle in Wildcat's eyes when she said this. "Basically, we just wanted to let you four know that, yes... We do know that you are nosey and yes, we will share information with you just so that we can have some peace and quiet."

Bolt had finally gotten himself under control. "First, we wanted to say that it's not exactly true that we gave up our old identities when we became Animalities... In fact, it's not even true that we lost our human forms." He noticed the students giving Hermione thoughtful looks. "And yes... That is Wildcat when not in her Animality form."

Lily's eyes widened. "But if you can turn into animals and hybrids at will, why would you indicate that you couldn't? That's more impressive than even Animagi..."

Sirius and James both looked a bit cross at that comment.

"Well, not all Animalities can return to their human forms... The new ones can't change and some that will never be fully one of us... It's more of that information we didn't share with the class."

"Can you change into a full human?" Sirius was looking curiously at Bolt's wings, wondering what would happen to them when he changed.

"Yes, actually... That's another reason we brought you here and made you sign the contract." Bolt exchanged a glance with Wildcat who, after a moment, nodded. "We're not exactly from around here..." Seeing the 'No Shit, Sherlock' looks on their faces, Bolt rolled his eyes. "Meaning that we don't even exist yet... We're from the future."

This caused the three Marauders and Lily to break out into laughter. It was Lily that first caught on to the serious expressions found on the faces of the two Animalities and rein in her giggles.

"The future? How is that possible?" The red-haired witch started to look a bit nervous.

"Simple, the future Albus Dumbledore sent us back here on a mission. But... One of the things we needed to tell you this for is... Well..." Hermione cleared her throat and looked nervously from Lily to James then to Bolt. "Bolt?"

Sighing, Bolt turned emerald eyes that suddenly seemed weary to the students. "Allow me to introduce myself..." As he spoke, he seemed to shrink, becoming a height closer to that of the human form of Wildcat, wings and hooves vanishing. His eyes remained the same but the silver tips of his hair turned black, the shoulder length locks seeming a bit on the messy side. The skin beneath the pale fuzz was still pale, though a more natural shade. The bright emerald eyes remained the same. The face was remarkably like that another young man within the room. "My name is Harry... James... Potter." He was staring straight at his father when he said this. "Hello... Dad." The emerald eyes turned to Lily. "Hey, mum."

Jaws dropped and the thud of a body hitting the floor resounded in the room which suddenly far too silent.

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"I can't believe you fainted..."

"Shut up, James..."

"It really was amusing, you know."

"You too, Lily..."

"I wish I'd had my camera!"

"Remus! It wasn't that funny!" Sirius crossed his arms and leaned back on the couch, sulking. "It wasn't my fault that the idea of you two having a kid was so shocking."

"Actually, it kinda was..."

"You shut it too, Wildcat... Or whatever your name is!" It was safe to say that Sirius didn't take well to being teased. "Who gave you that name anyway? Wildcat... Sounds like something a convict would think of..."

"You did!" Harry's cheerful voice couldn't have been happier. "You're the one that nicknamed nearly all of the Animalities."

Sirius' eyes had gone wide and he turned to look at Harry. "Me? Well... In that case. Wonderful selections." He nodded approvingly. "So do you have a name?" He directed that question to Wildcat.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course I do, but I'm not related to any of you, so my name isn't important." She flicked her fingers dismissively before getting up and pouring herself a cup of tea.

"Why aren't there any chocolate chip biscuits here?" Remus was picking through the assortment of biscuits on a tray the house elves had brought while Sirius had been unconscious.

Both Harry and Hermione cringed at the question. "Long story..." Hermione in particular looked a bit green.

"So... Er... Harry?" Lily looked more than a bit uncomfortable, her emerald gaze flicking between James and Harry as she took in their similarities and differences. While they looked a lot alike, Harry was thinner, though more wirey, and now that he wasn't in his hybrid form, he was shorter than James and slightly older. Though the emerald eyes, which she now recognized as her own, made him seem as if he were decades beyond them in age. Now that she thought about it, Wildcat's had that same sense, though there was a sparkle in her eyes at times that was just as annoying as the twinkle in the Headmaster's... "Why are you two here?"

"That's a very good question." As he had been since the revelation, James was staring at Harry.

"Well, to be honest, this is some secret training mission of Hermione's." Harry smirked at the scowl Hermione sent him for revealing her name. "Dumbledore has some special task for her and this is her first assignment. We're not sure exactly why we're here."

"To test our teaching skills in an unbiased environment." The text-book tone of Hermione's came from near the door to her room. "If you don't mind Harry, this is more your gift than my mission, so I think I'd like to go flying." She disappeared into her room, emerging moments later back in her hybrid form and wearing a pair of jean shorts and a tank top. She held a golden broomstick in her left hand.

"Sure thing, Wildcat. I'll just be here. Talking to my parents..." Harry knew that Hermione loved flying ever since a fall back into childhood several years back as well as aspects of their Auror training had forced her to face her fear of heights. He grinned at the feline hybrid and waved as she exited the room.

The eyes of both James and Sirius had been diverted by the sight of the golden broomstick. It wasn't long before one could tell they were itching to try the broom for themselves. Sirius soon started squirming in his seat at at receiving an offer. Lily, Remus and Harry were all three trying not to laugh at the two.

Eventually, James peeled his gaze away from the portrait entrance where it seemed as if he were attempting x-ray vision to see through the castle. "What kind of broom was that? I've never heard of a golden broom... Looked almost as if the end was on fire..."

Harry chuckled. "It's a special edition of the fastest broom in our time..." His eyes widened when he saw James, Sirius and even Remus practically drool at just that bit of information. "Only three were ever made..." The glazed looks on the trio seemed to deepen. "I've got another and our best mate Galleon has the third." An actual bit of drool started to make its way down Sirius' chin and Lily giggled at him. "We got them as rewards for killing a dark lord." The drool stopped and all four sets of eyes turned to stare at him.

"Harry, my boy... I think it's time you told us everything you can." James reached out, placing his hand on Harry's arm in a paternal gesture.

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While Harry began telling his parents and friends perhaps a bit more than he should, Hermione was making her way out of the castle. It didn't take long for her to have the attention of several students, particularly the seekers for the house teams, as she seemed to be in her own world. The golden Firebolt responsible for catching all of the attention this time around. By the time she reached one of the doors leading to the exterior of the castle, she had acquired a small audience of perhaps thirty curious students.

Nearly skipping, a method that allowed her bare paws to barely touch the snow covered ground, Hermione was less than ten feet away from the door before she had whirled her broom into place. The Firebolt was moving before it seemed she was even properly settled, faster than any broom the current collection of students had ever heard of and a murmur of awed sounds filtered to her as the wind whipped her wild hair into an unruly mass.

Feeling the cold wind toying with the fur, Hermione curled her tail around the end of the broom and leaned forward as she raced upward. She flew out over the Forbidden Forest, catching sight of Aragog's lair before circling back. Skimming low over the lake, she grinned and reached her fingers further up the length of the broomstick. Brushing the tip of her left index finger over the magically burning engraving of her nickname, she whispered, "Wildcat..." Her right index finger followed, tracing the fiery lightning bolt on the opposite side before another whisper came from her lips, "Firebolt."

As soon as the gestures and words had been spoken, the top secret magic of the special edition Firebolt was unleashed. The already blur of speed doubled to the point where only a hybrid Animality with their enhanced senses and reflexes would be able to control the broom. A shimmering trail of gold left was left in Hermione's wake as she flew at dangerous speeds. Her feline vision spied movement coming from near the Quidditch Pitch and she veered her broom in that direction.

Arriving at the pitch, Hermione lapped the entire thing three times, taking in the Slytherin Quidditch practice session before she finally wrapped her right hand around the smoldering engravings and whispered the word, "Trio." The word triggered the drop out of hyper-acceleration and back to a more visible speed before she whipped around the pitch one last time and down to the ground. By the time the Slytherins had made it there to investigate who it had been on the incredibly fast broom, she had already vanished back into the castle through a different door than she had used to exit.

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By the time Hermione returned from her flight, Harry had filled the trio of Marauders and Lily in on the basics. The boys pouted over not getting to see the gold broom in action while Lily remained deep in conversation with Harry. Right about then, Harry finally pulled out the photo album he had brought from his room earlier.

"This is my girlfriend, Ginny." Harry showed his mother the picture of the brown-eyed, ginger haired Weasley girl.

Ever the observant one, Lily pointed out something the males viewing the image didn't notice. "That's the one you introduced in class as Bloodpaw... She's very pretty."

Sirius, getting over the disappointment, peeked at the image. "Hey Prongs, he's got your taste in women..."

Lily blushed and James just shrugged and pointed out that his own mother had ginger hair. "It's something in the Potter blood. Which makes one wonder why black hair is what we generally have." He ruffled Harry's long hair, making it stick up in a way that reminded Hermione of how he looked before he started growing out his hair.

Heading into her room for a moment, Hermione placed her broom back into her trunk and switched into her human form. This caused Remus to take notice as her clothing changed sizes with her form change and soon the two were talking about the charms placed on Animality clothing.

"They had to develop lasting instant resizer charms... Quite a few of us gain quite a bit in size when changing. Our friend Rumble..." She paused to snag a picture of Neville Longbottom in his Animality form to show Remus. "He's much smaller when not in form..." Hermione prodded the image until the bashful Rumble turned into the smaller, blushing Neville. "That's not even taking into account the stitch and clip charms on the shirts for the winged ones... Galleon needs both charms on his shirts."

"And those also get placed on the trousers, I see..." Remus smirked at the twin tigers in another picture that were laughing as they wiggled their bums for the camera. "Such charming fiances you have..."

Cheeks turning pink, Hermione snatched that picture away and tucked it into her top. "Yes... Adorable." Clearing her throat, she pointed to another image. "FireEye here needs quite a few charms on his clothing. Thankfully he was already a dragon keeper before he turned and knew what he would need." The blue hued Charlie Weasley was cheerfully demonstrating how to turn from his hybrid form into his massive dragon body while the rest of the Weasleys watched from nearby in the image.

Harry heard that nickname and turned his attention to the clothing conversation for a moment. "Startled the piss out of all of us the first time we found out he could breathe fire in his hybrid form... Nearly singed Dumbledore's beard right off!"

Several hours later, after a dinner brought by the house-elves, the foursome of students said their goodnights and headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. Cleaning up the small mess of pictures and blankets that had somehow accumulated around their own common room, Harry and Hermione soon went to their own beds as well.

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For the next two weeks, Harry and Hermione taught their tolerance classes. When not teaching, they could be found seemingly everywhere as they wandered the castle. About every other night they met with James, Lily, Sirius and Remus in their common room. Eventually Hermione would lure Sirius and Remus out to give Harry extra time alone with his parents. During these times she would often seem to turn into a five year old, managing to convince the two into such silly games as tag or hide and seek.

What most didn't know, was that when the new hybrid instructors could not be found, they were quietly stalking the Slytherins... Or at least one Slytherin in particular. They didn't approach him outside of class matters, but they used their Auror stealth training to simply observe the young man known as Severus Snape. Eventually, they decided that he had a chance and would eventually become the Nightshade they loved to hate.

On the last day of classes before the Hogwarts students packed up to head home for the holidays, they gave their final lessons and began to say goodbye to the friends they had made. Though neither knew exactly what the purpose of the mission was, they did know that it was complete and the portal was waiting. It was time for them to go home.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Lily's lower lip was red from where she had been gnawing on the poor abused thing.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I've arranged for Christmas presents to be sent to your homes for you." Harry grinned before hugging his younger mother tight.

Lily was near tears as she laughed. "If I only wanted you around for presents, that would make me feel better."

"Don't worry, Lils... You'll be seeing him again in a few years!" Remus' cheerful call caused the girl to blush brightly and James to give her a playful leer.

"Ugh! Did **not** need that image!" Harry mimed ripping his eyes out.

James gave an irritated snort. "Don't do that! There aren't enough eyes like Lily's out there as it is..." He winked at his girlfriend.

Off to one side of the room, Hermione was packing her last few items before their trip home that night. "For the last time, Sirius... I am _not_ going to take you into the future with us!"

"Why not? There can never been too many of me! I'm adorable! I'm sexy! I'm lovable! I come in convenient huggable size!"

Hermione snorted a laugh at that. "Absolutely not! One Sirius Black is too much in any time." She messed up his hair enough to distract the Marauder and allow her to finish packing her trunk. The trunk was soon shrunk and slipped into the pocket of her shorts. "Don't worry, you'll see us soon, no doubt... Well, soon for us."

Both she and Harry sighed at the same time, reluctant to leave when they knew that no one would remember them once they had gone. It was one of the few reasons they hadn't bothered to try to tell them enough to change the future.

"Can we have the password for this room then?"

"Fine!" Hermione told them the password only to be engulfed in a hug from the canid animagus.

"Now who's going to attempt to kill us!" Sirius became overly dramatic at the prospect.

"I'm sure someone will manage..." Hermione shoved him off and headed over to where Harry was saying his goodbyes. And just in time too, she could tell that her best friend was having trouble keeping his emotions in check. "Harry, we have to go before the portal closes."

Harry gave Hermione a look of relief that managed to break her heart even as she knew this was tearing him up inside. "I guess that's it then..."

With a few last hugs all around, not to mention one big dog pile instigated by Sirius, the time travelers left the four teens in the common room and went to Dumbledore's office. Albus was not present in his office and, after a quick 'see ya' to Fawkes, the duo slipped into the corridor and all the way to the end where the active portal awaited. Taking deep breaths and clasping hands, they stepped through the portal.

Once on the other side, they both turned to see that the portal had gone dead. It didn't take long for the two to fall into a hug as Harry succumbed to the emotions that he had been holding back for longer than anyone would ever realize. Hermione held her friend, offering what comfort she could while her amber gaze remained locked on the black space that had once been alive with magic.

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**A/N:** I don't like this chapter, at all. My muse went on strike and it took forever to come up with anything... Hopefully the next chapter will come to me more easily. Anyway, Happy Holidays to those that celebrate them! 


	6. Second Mission part 1

**A/N:** For those of you that don't read my user page for update information: My computer completely died on January 3rd. Thankfully I had just backed up my files earlier that day. I'm currently using an old half-broken laptop. It took me a while to borrow my sister's computer to read my backup disks and email my fanfiction information to myself... That's why this update came out so much later than I had wanted it to. Hopefully I'll have a new computer by the end of February and things will be less of a hassle.

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Once Harry had worn out his burst of emotion, which took perhaps an hour or so, he and Hermione both pulled themselves together. Concealing the signs of emotional outbursts, the duo headed down the empty corridor. The silence between the two was comfortable and relaxed when they reached the door that would take them into Dumbledore's office. Sharing one last look, Harry opened the door only to find that Albus must have known of their impending arrival. For why else would his girlfriend Ginevra Weasley and her twin older brothers Fred and George, the two that just happened to be engaged to Hermione, have been waiting there with the aging Headmaster?

Delighted smiles broke out all around and somehow or another a massive tangle of limbs ended up on the floor of Dumbledore's office as the Weasleys gave in to their enthusiasm at seeing the safe return of their partners. Amidst laughter and the occasional yelp as good-natured, yet unintentionally painful pokes and squishes occurred, the fivesome managed to untangle themselves and take up seats before Dumbledore's desk.

Hermione was squished on a small couch by the twins in a way that seemed painful yet had been pefected by the trio of feline Animalities back in her seventh year at Hogwarts. George was fussing with her wild brown curls and Fred murmured soft words into her shoulder as she watched Albus expectactantly.

Ginny had taken up residence in Harry's lap as he sat comfortably in a soft armchair. He nuzzled against her neck as he whispered about having loads to tell her as soon as they were back at Grimmauld Place.

"First of all, welcome back and well done on a successful mission." Albus smiled warmly at the two. "Secondly, I'm not sure exactly how long you were gone on your end of the mission, but here you were gone perhaps..." Albus glanced at his clock. "Six hours."

"What?" Both the newly returned stared at Albus in shocked surprise.

"But we were gone at least three weeks..."

In truth, neither had really bothered to keep track of exactly how long they had been on their mission to the past. All they knew was that they had left the night before the students had gone home for the Christmas Holidays.

"Oh dear... It must have slipped my mind to tell you. None of the missions take longer than six hours on this end of the portal. Now... Since there isn't really much to say about the details, I'm sure you would like to head off and tell your loved ones about what happened." His blue eyes twinkling, Albus waved the younger wizards and witches out of his office.

As they untangled themselves and headed toward the door, Albus added a last message. "Miss Granger, your next mission will be next Saturday morning. Feel free to come and go about your business until then."

Heading back to Hermione's suite of rooms in the castle, the five friends soon called Ron to the group meeting and, once he arrived via Floo, they told them what had happened on the mission. The reactions from the group of listeners was delightful, from the happiness that Harry had gotten to spend time with his parents to the amusement at Hermione nearly decapitating one of the students during class.

Sometime during the telling, Ginny sensed that her boyfriend needed to head home and she soon dragged Harry away and into the fireplace where they used Floo Powder to reach Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Ron stayed a while longer, taking advantage of being back in Hogwarts to visit the kitchens before heading back to Grimmauld as well. When not on assignment or training, Hermione lived at Number 12 with the rest of the original Animalities.

And what happened once Harry, Ginny and finally Ron left is better left unsaid...

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Hermione spent the next several days between Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place. Occasionally she would venture to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade, either at the book stores, picking up a few necessary items, or visiting the twins while they were at work. On Thursday, she helped Ron and Harry with an Auror assignment. While she wasn't on active duty while attending her apprenticeship, she liked helping her best friends and knew that the public felt better when spotting the Golden Trio working together.

Eventually, the time had come for her to once more arrive in Dumbledore's office for her next mission. After giving the password to the Gargoyle, which was current _Fruit Gushers_, she headed inside to find one of her fiances, George Weasley waiting with Albus.

"You're coming this time, George?" Hermione didn't even try to hide her delighted expression. "Is Fred here too?" She looked around for another ginger-haired twin only to have her search interrupted by the door once more opening.

"No such luck... You two are stuck with me for this mission. I'm positive Dumbledore hates me..."

The lazy male drawl was familiar and Hermione smiled in greeting before giving the new arrival a warm hug. "But what would we ever do without you?" She pinched his pale cheeks enough to turn them rosy and was rewarded with having her hands swatted away.

"Now, now Mr Malfoy... I most certainly do not hate you." Albus twinkled over the rims of his half-moon spectacles at the scowling face of Draco Malfoy.

Draco hadn't changed much since the last time Hermione had seen him. Though it would be strange if he had since she had only seen him a few days prior to this mission. He was nearly six feet in height, toned with muscle from both Quidditch and Auror training, his short hair was still that silvery white-blonde shade and his pale grey eyes were still a mixture of amusement and annoyance that he had held for most of the last three years. About the only real change from the way he had looked in school was that his features were less pointed. He claimed it was because he was a wolf, not a ferret, and that his features were conforming accordingly. This merely earned him laughs from his fellow Animalities.

What none of the Animalities knew was that Draco's joking comment had been true. His Animality form had always been more feral than the others and, as such, the changes were noticable on him first. In time, all the Animalities would show minor physical changes to represent their animal form. Hermione Granger herself had started showing signs, but it was easily overlooked as her change, the increase in muscle mass, had developed during her Auror training. Not to mention that there were times when the black and silver pegasus of the group, Harry Potter, seemed to have silver highlights in the raven locks of his human form...

Draco snorted at Albus' reassurance. "If you don't hate me, why are you assigning me a mission with the pack Alphas? How am I supposed to have fun?" He gave an exaggerated pout, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair.

Hurrying to ward off a patented _Malfoy Sulk Session_™, Hermione was quick to bring the focus back to the matter at hand. "So what can you tell us about this mission, Albus?"

"Ahh, yes... The mission." Albus stood, taking three pieces of parchment from his desk and handing one to each of the Animalities. "Firstly, I need you to sign these contracts. I'm sure you will find them quite similar to the contract you had the Marauders sign on your last mission, Miss Granger."

Looking over the parchment, Hermione saw that Albus was correct. The contract merely wanted her to be incapable of saying or doing something that would alter the present timeline.

"Let's see... I, George Weasley, shall refrain from altering the timeline as I currently know it... Blah-blah-blah... Yackity-schmackity." George mumbled as he read over the contract. Upon reaching the end, and blatantly checking for any fine print, he pulled a quill from his ear. Ignoring the startled looks directed his way, he signed the parchment and tucked the quill back into his ear.

"I should have known... Nothing but feathers in the heads of Weasleys." Draco rolled his eyes and took a quill from a more traditional pocket and signed his own contract.

Giving a slight shake of her head, Hermione signed her own parchment and soon Albus was in possession of all three signed contracts.

"Good, now that we have that out of the way... This mission will be one that will no doubt infuriate all of you. But you must be aware that you are on a strict observation mission. While you can interact with the people and items to a certain degree, the power of the magical contracts you have signed will prevent any unintentional mistakes." Albus stood and gestured for the trio to follow him into the portal corridor.

"You will notice that you do not need any luggage on this trip, the answer to that situation will be made clear as soon as you arrive. Now, no need to seek anyone out for further instructions, though Nicholas will gladly offer assistance if needed... Try not to let things you can't change get under your skin and have fun! Remember to check back often, for when the portal once more opens, you will only have twenty-four hours to return..."

Albus' little speech reached it's conclusion as they arrived at the currently active second portal. "Try to have some fun with the experience, I'm sure it is one you will enjoy." He winked and stepped aside for them to enter the portal.

Having experienced the portal usage before, not to mention the fact that they were her missions to begin with, Hermione was the first to step into the shimmering arch. As before, she felt as if she were walking through mist. Unlike before, there was a strange freezing sensation and the feeling that she had lost something when she stepped through. She looked around before she heard George's voice as he joined her in the empty corridor.

"If it felt that way last time, I'm surprised you wanted to enter one of those again..."

"It wasn't. Last time it just felt like walking into thi-..."

"What the Hell!"

At the sound of Malfoy's stunned entrance, both Hermione and George whirled in place to look at him. As soon as they did, their eyes grew to the size of saucers.

Draco wore a matching expression as he stared at his pack Alphas.. Seeing their expressions, he raised up his hands and looked _through_ his palms! "Is it just me... Or are we _dead_!"

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Three impromptu panic attacks and an hour later...

"So I think we've figured out just who Albus meant when he said Nicholas would help us if we needed it." George was floating back and forth in an approximation of pacing. "Nearly Headless Nick is the type to offer help to anyone in need." He paused. "Well, as much as a ghost can help..."

Hermione was, strangely enough, amusing herself by sticking her head into the walls and seeing what was on the other side. The corridor that held the portals should not have structurally been able to exist and she wasn't too surprised to find that the scenery changed almost every time she peered out.

"Figures, even in death Gryffindors are too nice for their own good..." Draco wasn't too impressed. He was sitting in a strange meditation pose on the ceiling, his clothes and hair defying gravity as he remained in place.

A yelp from Hermione's direction distracted them and they turned to look at the silvery-white spectral form of the female. Her cheeks were extra silvery as she blushed. "Er... The other side of the wall changed to the Quidditch locker room..." She averted her gaze.

George snorted a laugh. Surprisingly though, he was the one taking this mission seriously... For the moment, at any rate! "Well, what we need to do is stop floating around in the corridor and observe. I doubt we were sent here to spend however long just waiting here!"

Draco sprang away from the ceiling, twisting right side up and landing on all four paws in his wolf form. The ghostly wolf looked similar in color to his living wolf form. The only real difference was that he was now transparent. After trotting around on all fours for a moment, he shifted to his hybrid form and from there to his normal body. "Well, now we know we can change."

"Not that it would really do any good. Let's see if we can find Sir Nicholas." Hermione cautiously peered through the wall again before waving them to follow and stepping all the way through.

Shrugging, George and Draco followed.

It wasn't until they were through that they realized their error... The ever changing location of the portal corridor had deposited them each into a different part of the castle!

In three different places, three new ghosts in Hogwarts Castle all said the same thing:

"Bugger!"

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Noticing that he was currently free of his Alphas, Draco strolled along the corridor at a leisurely rate and whistled to himself, assuming you call walking near the ceiling strolling... He had emerged from the portal corridor into one that he knew was near the classrooms with no sign of Hermione or George anywhere. As he turned a corner, he saw a familiar girl walking along the corridor. Her hair was in pig tails and she had glasses. Her head was bowed as she entered a classroom behind several other students.

As Draco tried to decide where he had seen the girl before, his attention was diverted to a very pretty ghost quietly helping a first year head in the appropriate direction. Smirking, Draco straightened his shirt and strolled over to the ghost. Might as well have some fun!

Giving a bow, Draco took the ghost lady's hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it as he greeted her in flawless French.

"Why thank you, kind sir.. I haven't been greeted thus since the last Death Day party I attended..." The ghost woman's voice was soft and sweet.

Smiling, it wasn't until Draco finally raised from his impromptu bow and looked into her eyes that he realized he had just kissed the hand of The Grey Lady!

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It didn't take long for Hermione to realize that perhaps they should have held hands walking through the wall. Especially since she had already observed how easily the position of the corridor changed. As it was, she found herself alone in the Library. Surprisingly, Hermione felt no desire to linger and headed out of the familiar room to search for her fiance and friend.

Perhaps twenty minutes into her wandering Hermione came across the first familiar face... Peeves the Poltergeist was harassing some second year Hufflepuffs that were running late for class. Eyes narrowing, Hermione watched the scene for perhaps a full minute before realizing that there must be a reason Peeves was scared of the Bloody Baron. A sly grin formed on her face.

Two seconds later, three second years were startled when a silver ghost wearing odd clothes suddenly tackled the colorful Poltergeist from the side. Both spirits were soon out of sight, leaving the Hufflepuffs to flee to class with the sounds of some strange scuffle going on behind the wall where Peeves and the strange ghost had vanished.

"Don't pick on the students!" Hermione was in her ghostly hybrid form, shaking Peeves so hard that his head created an outrageous rattling sound. After a few minutes of abusing the Poltergeist, Hermione finally allowed him to slip from her grasp.

Peeves glared at the strange feline ghost and almost went to pounce her in return... Right up until she unsheathed some wicked looking claws from her fingertips and growled.

"I dare you... I've been wanting to give you some payback for a long time..."

Looking uncertain for a moment, Peeves finally decided she wasn't as threatening as she looked at went to tackle the unfamiliar ghost. The two went tumbling through several walls and floors as they tussled. It seemed pretty evenly matched, at least as far as Peeves would later admit. Though it seemed to anyone else that the colorful spectre was running away from the silver spirit.

Eventually, Hermione had Peeves pinned to the floor, her clawed hands holding his throat as her tail lashd. "Now, I'm not sure how long I'll be visiting, but you had better," here she bonked his head on the floor in a manner that ghosts should not have been able, "behave yourself! If I see you doing anything that I don't like, I will string you up by your underwear to the tallest goal on the Quidditch Pitch and leave you there for a hundred years!"

"I'll be good, Mistress!" Peeves was quick to turn coward, especially since he actually felt that bonk! He couldn't remember the last time _that_ had happened!

Giving him another bonk, Hermione picked herself up, her tail vanishing in a puff as she shrank to her normal size and form. She glared at Peeves until he scrambled up and vanished through the nearest wall. When the poltergeist vanished, Hermione was suddenly made aware of the fact that she was not alone. She turned, eyes wide to see an entire class of fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors attending potions... And applauding!

Seeing the annoyed look on the Professor's face, Hermione blushed and gave an apologetic wave. "And that concludes this demonstration of how to keep pesky poltergeists in line..."

As she made her get away from the now giggling class, Hermione's attention was drawn to one Slytherin that was glaring coldly in her direction. She only had time to give the boy a confused look before she was drifting through the ceiling.

"That, my dear... Is a trick I would much like to learn."

Hermione shivered as the cold, slightly raspy voice came from behind her and she whirled in place to find herself facing The Bloody Baron!

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George arrived in the one place he would have loved to be when he was in school... The Gryffindor Girls' Dormitory! What he didn't appreciate was that he had been deposited in the _First_ year girls' dorm! He wasn't there long before an invisible force pushed him out of the room and the air near the ceiling of the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Just great... Not even dead guys can go in there!" He turned and shook his fist at the wall he had just been pushed through.

George's antics did not go unnoticed as a boy sitting down on the couch snickered. "That's good to know... My dorm mates were wondering."

Looking down, George shared a grin with the boy before willing himself to float down. As he drifted closer to the couch, he observed the boy. He was tall and bulky, easily large enough to have graduated a year or two ago, and had bushy dark hair that looked coarser than Hermione's ever had. There was something familiar about the black eyes though and George's own narrowed in confusion as he saw the title of the book the boy was working from: Standard Book of Spells, Grade 3.

The boy blushed at the new ghost's scrutiny, turning back to his homework. "Are you new?" He tried to sound as casual as possible. "I haven't seen you around before..."

"Relatively... Not sure how I got here." George was referring more to Gryffindor Tower than he was to the castle in general. "Shouldn't you be in class?" Not that George would ever try to make someone go to class, he was just curious.

"Well..." The blush still staining the large boy's chubby cheeks grew. "I was in class... But then I ... Blew up my cauldron. The nurse told me to come back to the common room after she fixed me up!"

Easily accepting that answer, George sat down on the table. Or at least he tried to sit down on the table. He wasn't focusing properly and ended up falling through both the table and the floor beneath!

Popping back up, George was met with the oversized third year's renewed snickers. "New to being a ghost, I see..." There wasn't really a delicate way to ask how long someone had been dead.

"Yeah, something like that." George was reminded of his manners. "I'm George, by the way." He held a translucent silvery-white hand out and grinned.

The Gryffindor boy looked at the hand for a moment before miming a polite handshake. His large hand would probably have crushed George's if it hadn't gone through the ethereal form of the ghost. "Rubeus..." He smiled shyly. "But you can call me Hagrid, everyone else does."

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**A/N:** How many _didn't _see that coming?


	7. Second Mission Complete

Until that day, Draco Malfoy had never realized just how much about Hogwarts he didn't know. When the amazingly pretty specter known as the Grey Lady offered to give him a tour of the castle, he had graciously accepted. For hours the Ravenclaw ghost had shown him secret passages, hidden rooms and even a large room with no way for the living to enter or exit. This room turned out to be where the ghosts gathered when they didn't wish to be disturbed by the living.

The most surprising thing was that within this room Draco found the Alpha female of his pack speaking to the Slytherin ghost! Since Hermione Granger was deep in discussion with the Bloody Baron, and Draco could only occasionally hear something about Peeves, he settled in for a talk with the Grey Lady.

"It isn't often that we get new ghosts within the castle." The elegant lady had been delighted at giving a tour.

As Draco and the Grey Lady spoke in quiet tones, Sir Nicholas led George Weasley into the chamber. Catching their eyes, George gestured toward Hermione and Draco. Excusing himself from the Lady, Draco followed his Alphas out of the ghost common room and into another part of the castle.

"You'll never guess who I met up in the Gryffindor Common Room!" George sounded excited as soon as they were secluded.

"Who?"

"Hagrid!"

"What? Hagrid was in the common room? He's never done that…" Hermione was curious.

George beamed. "That's just it, he was there because he's a student! Third year!" He seemed pleased at this information.

Hermione flickered out of sight for a moment in shock, the act surprising both George and Draco. "Please tell me it was some other Hagrid…"

"Unless Hagrid named his kid Rubeus, I don't see how it could be someone else." A confused look formed on George's face.

"What happened in Hagrid's third year?" Draco was staring intently at Hermione.

"That's the year that Hagrid was expelled when he was framed… For opening the Chamber of Secrets."

Draco felt sick. "And now all we can do is sit back and observe?"

Her face pale, Hermione nodded.

"Bloody Hell…"

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After the revelation of the timeline, George, Hermione and Draco spent the next few days learning to be ghosts. During this time, they identified the key players in the coming events. Hagrid was easy to spot, standing head and shoulders above the other students even though he was only a third year. Myrtle was a bit more difficult to pick out, at least until they found her being teased by Olive Hornby one day. Tom Riddle was easy enough to track down, though all three remained invisible when observing the quiet Slytherin.

On one particular day, while the students were off in Hogsmeade, the trio of ghostly Animalities was lounging around. That is to say that George and Hermione were lounging around while Draco indulged in spying on some of the students that were participating in a practice game of Quidditch. At least that's what he said he was doing, though the last time they had checked, the Quidditch Pitch had been on the other side of the castle from the direction in which he had floated.

George, currently in his tiger form, was sprawled out on the floor of the restricted section while Hermione used him as a backrest. She was flipping idly through the pages of some book or another that she claimed hadn't been here in their own time. So George, the ever loving and understanding fiancé, had immediately volunteered to become furniture for his future bride. They had been there, George asleep while Hermione read, for perhaps two hours before the ghostly form of a wolf sought out their company.

Without looking up from her book, a soft smile appeared on Hermione's ghostly features. "Hey there, Prince Snufflebutt… Glad you decided to join us."

The wolf growled before projecting a thought to the female. "I only did that once! And I was drunk at the time! Are you guys _ever_ going to let me live that down?"

Hermione debated the question before giving a cheerful reply. "Nope!" She glanced up from the book in time to see the wolf sprawl out in front of her, ears drooping and a definite pout about his features. "That's not going to work…" Her sang.

The familiar tune stirred George out of his slumber and, after a toothy yawn, the tiger turned to regard the human and wolf. "She jinxes things when she says that, you know… Fred and I have been trying to figure out just how she manages that effect." He lowered his head again, eyes closed as he shifted into a more comfortable position and seemed to fall back to sleep.

Rolling her eyes affectionately, Hermione leaned over to scritch around Draco's ears. "You are adorable when you pout, dear… But you've been doing it as long as I've known you and I am immune to the effect."

This effectively ended Draco's pouting and the wolf gave a yawn. Just a tiny bit of a whine could be heard before he shook his head. "So are you going to see if we can go down there today?"

One of George's eyes opened at the question.

"I don't know… What if we're the reason he finds out about the place?" She chewed on her lower lip in an adorable way. After a moment, in which neither male made a sound, she floated up and put the book back on the shelf. "Okay, we may as well get it over with. Just remember what happened to Sir Nicholas."

Hermione shifted into her cougar form as Draco and George rose to all four feet. With a shared nod, the cougar took off and with the tiger and the wolf on her heels.

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All things considered, it was relatively easy for the pseudo-ghosts to slip into the girls' bathroom, from there Hermione led them into the circle of sinks that Ron and Harry had told her was the entrance to the Chamber. Silently, the ghosts fell through the tunnel, wondering how their friends and Lockhart had managed the fall without breaking anything in their solid bodies. Once inside, all three went invisible before gliding through walls and tunnels.

"Wow, this shed basilisk skin must be worth a fortune…"

"No kidding, imagine how much we could get if Harry opened the Chamber and we collected the corpse."

George paused before reaching over and poking Hermione. "Remind me to talk to Harry when we get back!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and glided through the final doorway. She stopped on the other side, gazing at the large room. "Wow…"

The males echoed the sentiment as they took in the large, wet room. Serpent statues were everywhere and water filled the room. There was a dank, moldy scent hanging thickly in the air and the head of Salazar Slytherin sported mossy vines. Considering that Hermione didn't remember those kinds of vines in Harry's tale, she assumed that Riddle must have done a bit of cleaning in the Chamber.

Padding on silent paws, the trio of ghostly animals slowly and cautiously explored the Chamber of Secrets for the better part of half an hour before the raspy slither of scaled skin on stone drew their attention. As one, the Animalities turned to look in the direction of the sound. They caught a glimpse of damp hide as the Basilisk slithered through a tunnel before they remembered themselves. As one, the three turned and took off as fast as they could out of the Chamber.

It was on the way out that they discovered why no ghosts had reported the Chamber's location ages ago, a hidden room off to one side of the main tunnels held at least a dozen petrified ghosts. The sight was enough to send the ghosts into a minor panic and they darted as fast as they could up through the ceiling and the many levels of the castle until they were perched on the roof.

"Okay… Now whose bright idea was it to go down there again?"

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Over the course of the next few weeks, Hermione, George and Draco witnessed as Tom Riddle first discovered and opened the Chamber. Petrified students turned up left and right, far more than had been around when George's little sister Ginny Weasley had been forced to open the Chamber of Secrets. The three ghosts were locked in silent secrecy, finding very little they were capable of saying as they were forced to watch the events.

When not silently observing, George spent time nurturing Hagrid's love of all things dangerous and cuddly. Draco spent an inordinate amount of time with the Grey Lady and, as a result, was teased by both Hermione and George for developing a crush. Hermione spent her time in a most remarkable way. One of those times when Ron would be sure to note that she was "Brilliant. But scary." In other words, she was teaching the Bloody Baron how to lay the smack down on Peeves!

Eventually, their time in the past reached its conclusion, thankfully before the death of the innocent Myrtle. None of them knew how they'd have reacted had they been forced to be present during this time. And so finally, after a month and a half as ghosts, the trio made their way through the portal once more. Albus Dumbledore, Fred Weasley and surprisingly, Ron Weasley greeted them in Dumbledore's office. After a brief talk, they split into various groups and went their separate ways.

At least until time for the next mission…

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**A/N:** This one completely sucked, in my opinion. My muse wants to write later chapters, so I cut this one shorter than I had originally intended. The next one will be about as long or perhaps shorter. In other news, I'm still working on my laptop, which has nearly died once or twice since I started using it. Hopefully by the end of the month I'll have a new computer and can focus on things more easily. 


	8. Third Mission pt 1

**A/N:** This was originally going to be mission four, but my muse didn't agree and the original third mission was cut from the script… As a result, we have something that will be more fun! And, for those that don't get the point of the missions: The first mission was for Harry to meet his parents and for Hermione to get some experience with controlling herself in a teaching environment. The second mission was as James Jago guessed. They were forced to have restraint and self-control in a potentially stressful situation. Remember, these missions are teaching Hermione what she'll need to take over for Albus when he retires. How often does Albus just sit back and watch things happen? See!

But the main thing to remember is... These missions are for me to have fun writing all kinds of silly things! -wink-

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There were no missions for the next three weeks. Which was fine with Hermione as she and her friends were very busy. Thanks to George, Harry was convinced to open the Chamber of Secrets for a retrieval mission. The Hogwarts ghosts gathered together and, since they now knew where the Chamber was located, they brought up the petrified ghosts. Madam Pomfrey revived them using the same method that she had used several years previously on Sir Nicholas. While the ghosts were reacquainting themselves with the world of the non-living, the original Animalities banded together to remove the carcass of the Basilisk.

All except Bloodpaw, that is. Ginevra Weasley could not be convinced to go back into the Chamber for any reason. Harry did give her a souvenir of the experience though, the fang that had nearly ended his life and destroyed the diary. Ginny seemed to appreciate the gesture, enough at least that she had the fang made into a dagger that she took to wearing on her belt.

Unfortunately for George, Harry refused to let him have the corpse. Harry did give him a share of the parts for potion ingredients, however. In fact, everyone that helped remove the corpse got some for that purpose. The rest was donated to Hogwarts, where Professor Snape delighted in the prime material. Though, being who he was, Snape did complain that some of the ingredients would have been better if they had been harvested right after the Basilisk was killed…

Once the potion ingredients were stored, Harry sold the remains of the Basilisk and the shed skins to various apothecaries. The money he made was donated to Hogwarts. Harry claimed that since the Basilisk had been in Hogwarts for so long and had quite possibly hatched there, that no other place deserved to profit from the remains. The funds went to buy new brooms for the flying classes, new uniforms for all four House Quidditch Teams, new furniture in the common rooms and, at Hermione's insistence, new uniforms for the House Elves. It did take ages for her to convince the Elves that they weren't real clothes, but once she did, they happily put on their new uniforms.

Along with these improvements, Harry convinced Albus to start a new class. The class was a special weekends only class for Muggleborn students that had yet to enter the Wizarding World. Hermione was tickled pink by this, watching as the ten year olds arrived on the weekends for prep classes. Though they were not yet allowed to have wands, these weekend classes were a great way to introduce Muggleborn children into the Wizarding World without suddenly shocking their systems by sending them headfirst into a whole new world for a whole semester or year…

The first weekend that brought the little ten year olds was one for the history books. Unlike the regular students that were brought by the train, the weekend only students arrived via portkey. One unfortunate little boy got sick, but otherwise the kids loved the experience. Since Harry had initiated the class, he was on hand to greet the students, introducing them to their first weekend at the school. A special dormitory had been built just for them and had been unofficially dubbed Potter House. More than one of Harry's friends knew that no matter how much he protested the name, it was bound to stick.

The teachers not on Hogsmeade Weekend duty eagerly took turns introducing the students to the various aspects of the Wizarding World. If things went as Harry planned, the new special class would catch the Muggleborns up to where normal Wizarding children were in magical knowledge. For the first term, it was set up for Muggleborn students only, while the second half included pre-Hogwarts aged students from magical families. It became the task for first and second years to take these Zero-year students in hand and teach them the layout of Hogwarts while learning the layout better themselves. All in all, Harry's new class idea became a hit for the younger students.

Finally, the time came for Hermione's third mission.

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Once more Hermione found herself making her way up to Albus Dumbledore's office. This time she was walking with Fred. Fred had caught her as she was leaving her room and told her that he was supposed to go on this mission with her. She had been delighted and the two walked hand in hand up to the office. Once inside, they got a _warm_ welcome.

"Oh for crying out loud! Do I get stuck with two Alphas on every mission I get to help her with?" Draco Malfoy instantly reached pout mode when he saw Hermione and Fred walk through the door.

"Only the first two you assist with, Mr. Malfoy." Albus gave a wink. "I'm sure you will excuse me if I adjust your clothing…" He waved his wand and transfigured their robes into foreign attire. "I've also taken the liberty of preparing your travel cases." Another flick and three strangely designed travel packs appeared in front of each. "This mission will be one of the more interesting. I'm not sure exactly what you will face, as this portal changes every time it is used. I can tell you that, no matter what, remember that you are representing your entire race on this mission."

He smiled and herded the trio into the portal corridor as soon as they picked up their packs. "Now, it's the third portal on the right, I hear a group of zero-years being lead up the stairs. On your way." With one last wave, Albus wished them good luck. "See you in a few weeks. Good luck!" Albus closed the portrait door behind them and, as soon as it closed, they could hear some of the ten year olds from the zero year class arriving.

Fred turned to look at the other two and grinned. "Well, you two are the veterans of this kind of thing, lead on!"

Giving a shake of her head, Hermione shouldered her pack and headed for the mentioned portal. This one had a stone arch and seemed to swirl with greens and blues. "Just walk through." And she led the way into the portal followed closely by Draco.

Pondering the disappearance of his fiancée and their friend, Fred finally walked through the portal as well. On the other side, he found himself in a stone corridor with Draco and Hermione. The corridor seemed normal enough, stone all around. There was a dim light coming from a half open basket that made him wonder though. "So, is this like either of the other missions?"

Draco shook his head. "No, last time we were at Hogwarts, only we were ghosts."

"And the time before that Harry and I were at Hogwarts as well." Hermione peered up and down the corridor as well. "Unless this is like the Chamber of Secrets, we are definitely not at Hogwarts."

"No, you're not…"

Startled by the voice, all three of the travelers turned to see a woman they had not noticed before. She had a stately bearing, seemed to be a bit more than middle aged and reminded the trio of Professor McGonagall. In other words, she gave the impression that she had a lot of power and that she could be trusted.

"Pardon me, madam… But how did you know we would be here?" Fred was surprisingly courteous when he wished to be.

The woman inclined her head; "I had a dream last night. It was very insistent that some friendly visitors would be walking out of the wall in this corridor today. So I took a day off and came to wait." She arched a brow. "I was very surprised when I saw those same people from the dream walk out of the wall."

Hermione smiled and held out her hand in greeting. "It would seem that you are our guide then, milady. My name is Hermione Granger. This is my betrothed Fred Weasley and our friend Draco Malfoy." She inclined her head in the direction of males as she introduced them.

The strange woman took her hand in greeting and then reached into a pouch hanging from her belt. "My dream instructed me to give one of these to each of you. You should wear them strapped across your chests, under your clothes and over your heart." She handed each of them a small pouch that was lined in fur and warm to the touch. "I will explain more of these to you later. For now, I suppose I should show you to your quarters for your stay."

Turning, the woman started to walk down one of the corridors. "My name is Manora, by the way. I am the Head Woman here at this community. The dream I had told me that you would know nothing of the way life is here and that I am to make certain you learn all that your heads can hold in the next few weeks before you walk through the wall once more."

Following the woman, the corridor soon grew brighter until it opened out to a stone ledge on the high up on the wall of what appeared to be a crater. Hermione, Fred and Draco's jaws dropped at the scene before them. There were dragons! Everywhere! Some dragons were sunning themselves on ledges. Other dragons were perched on the rim of the crater. Still others were taking off and landing while some young ones walked around next to teenagers. Dragons circled overhead and every direction they looked the sun glistened off of green, brown, bronze and blue hides. A loud roar sounded from a stone marking on the rim and drew their attention to a massive golden dragon. Every other dragon raised its head and warbled in response to the roar from the beautiful golden creature.

Manora smiled brightly at the responses of the visitors. Clearing her throat slightly so that she knew she had their attention, though their eyes remained fixed on the sight of daily life in the Bowl; Manora spoke.

"Allow me to welcome you to Benden Weyr, the leading Weyr of the planet Pern."

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**A/N:** Not quite as long as I had wanted, but I thought that was a good place to leave off. My muse likes this segment and by the time this is posted I'll already be started on the next chapter.

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and associated characters, places and concepts belong to J.K. Rowling. Pern and all associated characters, places and concepts belong to the wondrous Anne McCaffrey. Any other characters, places, concepts and plot ideas belong to me!


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